Headed West
by Raziel12
Summary: The Estheim family is headed West, but to make the journey they'll need a guide. A Western themed AU. NOT connected to Stetsons and Fal'Cie.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

I still remember the first time I met Lightning. I was a few months shy of my fourteenth birthday and my family and I were headed out West. There was land out West, plenty of it, and my father had worked hard to save the money we needed to buy a great big patch of it. We were on our way there, having pulled up stakes from the big city, to start out new in the big open spaces of the West.

There was only one problem. The trip out West wasn't a short one. In fact, it took just about three months, and that was with good weather and even better luck. The terrain out there was tough and the wildlife was mighty dangerous. As it was, the land might be fertile and plentiful, but to get out there and actually live long enough to enjoy it, you needed a guide. Father was a clever fellow and he'd had a guide set up for just on a year now, but when we arrived at Midgar, the last real town before the land gave way to the wilds of the West, the news wasn't good. Our guide hadn't made it back for his last trip and all things considered, that meant he was probably dead.

Without a guide there was no way we'd make it out West and with everything we owned packed up into a pair of wagons, it wasn't like we could just turn back either. So we needed a guide and we needed one fast. My father asked around and the word was that there was a saloon out on the southern edge of town where a man could find a guide if he wanted to head out West.

Mother had some friends in town, people we could trust, so my father left her and the wagons with them and brought me along with him to look for a guide. We found the saloon easily enough, but really, it wasn't much to look at. The woodwork was all half rotted and weather-beaten and there was an old fellow out the front with no small number of empty whiskey bottles scattered on the porch around him.

Things weren't much better on the inside, either. The scent of tobacco was heavy in the air, along with the smell of spilt liquor. It was dark in there too, the kind of twilight brought on by bad company as much as bad lighting. The bar was at the far end of the saloon and there were tables scattered about in haphazard fashion. There was a poker game going at one of them and as we drew near, they laid down their cards to look at us. I didn't like the look in their eyes. If their eyes had just been cold that wouldn't have bothered me too much. Strangers were strangers, after all, and in places like this, strangers were rarely welcome. No, it was the greedy gleam in their eyes, a glitter that spoke of promises broken and decency long forgotten.

"I'm looking for a guide out West," father said simply. "And I've got fifty dollars and food for the trip for the man to do it."

A low rustle ran through the saloon at that, carried from the tables closest to us, all the way to the scruffy clumps of men by the walls and bar. Fifty dollars was a lot of money, especially to people this. In the end it was one of the poker players who stood, a tall fellow, blonde, and powerfully built. Still, for all that he was fit looking, there was a meanness about him that came not so much from anything that showed on the outside, but from what little you could tell about what was inside.

"I'll take you out West. How far are you headed?"

Father nodded once, crisply. "I'm headed out to the Archelyte Steppes."

The tall man whistled. "That's plenty far, stranger." He grinned and there was something cruel in the expression. "You make that wage a solid eighty and I'll see what I can do for you."

"You'll see what you can do for them?" The words came from far down the back of the saloon, the speaker all but lost in the shadows. Yet there was no doubting that the speaker was a woman. "For eighty dollars, you'd better see what you can do for them."

"You butting in on my business, Lightning?" the tall man said, turning to pin the speaker with a sharp look. "There's no call for that."

"I've no care about your dealings, Seifer. But that man isn't here on his own, or did you miss the boy beside him? No, he's got no need for your sort, Seifer." The words were softly spoken, but in the sudden hush that had fallen over the bar, the woman, Lightning, seemed to snap them out, and each carried the force of a whiplash across the back.

Seifer snarled, his tall frame taut with fury and turned back to father. "You going to listen to some trash like her?"

Father said nothing for a moment, but I could see him peering into the shadows to where the woman sat, and though I couldn't see her much at all, he seemed to be weighing his words up very carefully. Finally father spoke. "I fancy myself a fair judge of character, and I think I'll take her word for it."

The expression on Seifer's face was an ugly one and I couldn't help but take a step back as the tall man's fists clenched at his side. But before he could speak, the woman was talking again, voice as soft as before, but just as biting.

"Leave the man be, Seifer. If you've a problem, then it's with me."

And then, for the first time, Lightning stepped from the shadows and into the light and I'm not ashamed to say that I stopped and stared, for only a statute could have seen her then and remained unmoved. She wasn't dressed like most of the other people we'd seen about town, especially the types who roamed the wilds. Instead of the usual browns and blacks, her trousers, and jacket were dark grey. Her vest, showing just a little as she stood, her jacket swinging open, was a lighter grey and her shirt was fine spun white linen. Despite the dust that seemed to cling to everything out here, the whole of her clothing was somehow unsullied, a little worn perhaps from long years of hard usage, but clean and well cared for.

Yet more distinctive even that the grey and white of her clothing were the splashes of colour about her person. There was the scarf about her neck, a deep, almost bloody red, and beneath her grey Stetson I could see pink hair, a shade I'd never seen before. But it was her eyes that caught and held me most, for they were a brighter, truer blue than anything I'd ever seen. And her eyes were burning now, blazing with an a fierce intensity so great that for all that she stood much smaller than Seifer, I couldn't help but think that she somehow measured more than him on any scale that mattered.

"That's the last time you'll be interfering in my business, Lightning," Seifer said and he bit off each word like it was poison and his whole frame tensed and shivered as he turned to face her. He was mad down to his boots, that was plain enough, and he meant to have satisfaction.

Faster than I thought a man his size could move, he drove forward at Lightning. Yet as fast as he was, she was faster still. In all my life, I never thought I'd see someone move as fast as she did. At the last moment, she stepped neatly to one side and his fist swung past her face. He rounded on her quickly, lashing out in a storm of blows, but she was too quick for him, all but dancing through the blows, each movement smooth and easy and perfectly controlled as she made him miss by what seemed like miles. Finally, she struck back. She drove on hand up and into his gut as he rushed past and a shudder ran through him before she whipped her other hand into his chin. The blow snapped his head back and she caught hold of his arm and swung him up and over her shoulder.

He sailed through the air and crashed onto a table. The table broke beneath his weight and he laid there, sprawled half unconscious amidst the broken bits of wood. Lightning didn't move, merely gazed down at him with a coldness that I could feel from across the room. For a long moment, he just stared back at her, shaking his head to clear it, and the hate was clear in his eyes as he dropped one hand to the gun at his belt –

And then he stopped. It took me a moment to realise why, but then I saw. Lightning's hands were no longer folded over her chest, instead one hand had dropped to her waist and her jacket was pushed back just far enough for me to see the glint of metal. There was a gun there, elegant in the simplicity of its deadliness and her hand was there on the handle, loose and easy.

"You've lost your pride already, Seifer. Move again for your gun and you'll lose your life, as well, unless you think you can beat me to the draw."

Seifer gave a grunt, but dropped his hand to the ground. Lightning turned away from him tossed some coins at the bar before she walked right past father and I and out onto the dusty street. Father watched her for a moment and then smiled.

"Come on, Hope, I think we've found ourselves a guide."

A guide? I couldn't help but be puzzled, for this Lightning hadn't said a word about being our guide, hadn't even looked at us. Still, when we got out, she was there with a gold chocobo already saddled and ready. She met father's gaze for a moment and then glanced over to me and then back to him.

"You said you needed a guide?" Her words were soft as before, but hard.

"Yes," father said. "I've a wife and son." He pointed at me. "We call him Hope. As for me, I'm Bartholomew Estheim, although most people make it Bart. I've land out West but I'll need a guide to get to it."

Lightning nodded and then her eyes shifted again, not hard, but cool, calculating, like she was taking our measure. "It's a tough journey out to the Archeltype Steppes, tougher too for city folk."

"How'd you know we were from the city?" I blurted before I could stop myself. I winced then, as her eyes shifted to me, afraid somehow that I'd offended her.

But if she was angry, she'd didn't look it. She merely raised one eyebrow the smallest fraction and then she seemed to lose herself for a moment, almost as though she were looking at me and seeing someone else. And then she was back in the present and though she didn't smile, her eyes were softer – but still plenty hard – and her voice was cool, without being cold. "Asking questions is a good idea, Hope, but be careful how and when you ask them. To answer you, I could tell you two were city folk from the way you dressed and how you spoke. Fact of the matter is, only someone from the city would be fool enough to speak so loudly about fifty dollars in a place like that." She cast a disdainful look back at the saloon. "Still, Bart, you've got to know that most city folk can't make a journey, at least not without all sorts of trouble."

"We can make it," father said. "I'm not raised out in these parts, but I can be rugged when I need to be. Hope's tough too, even if he's got a bit of growing left to do and Nora, my wife, was born in these parts."

Lightning nodded. "If you're sure, then for fifty dollars you've hired yourself a guard." And then she added, more to herself than us. "Besides, it's about time I left this place behind."

The walk back to where mother was staying with our wagons was an odd one. Father wasn't a talker in the best of circumstances and Lightning turned out to be plenty quiet too. In the end, I spent most of my time just watching her and she was interesting to watch. For one, she moved with a curious mix of elegance and restraint, almost like she was afraid of letting go in case that deadly energy that we'd seen earlier with Seifer spilled out of her. But mostly it was the way she watched things – everything, really. Her eyes were always moving, ticking off each person, each thing, each motion she saw. It might've been the middle of the day on a busy street, but she determined not to be caught off guard. And it wasn't like she was trying to do it, in fact, I got the impression this sort of thing was just part of who she was, or else was so ingrained that it was second nature.

Only once did her eyes stop and rest on anything more than a split-second. As we walked past a saloon, a drunken man stumbled out with his gun in one hand. Likely as not, he meant no harm, was probably too drunk to even do anything, but the moment he looked our way, a great current of energy swept through Lightning. Her stance, poised, grew almost rigid and her eyes blazed with that cold blue fire and the drunk, poor man, could only stop and stare in sudden, shocked terror, before his gun slipped from his fingers. Not bothering to pick it up, he stumbled back into the saloon and it was only then that the tension drained from Lightning.

Mother was staying with our wagons at a bar called Seventh Heaven, which was run by an old friend of hers named Tifa. When we got there, mother was out front and when she saw Lightning with us, she gave father a sort of funny look.

"Good afternoon, stranger," she said primly to Lightning. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Lightning," Lightning replied, her surname conspicuous in its absence. "I'm your guide."

"Our guide?" Mother looked surprised for a moment, but hid it well, her pretty features creased for only the briefest of moments. "I'm pleased to meet you then."

And then she was pulling father inside the bar and I followed them as best I could. Behind me, Lightning was already looking over our wagons keenly, her mind already on the job ahead.

Mother dragged father over to a corner of the bar and I stopped following them just long enough to wave at Tifa who was behind the bar. Tifa was pretty with eyes like wine and long black hair and it was easy to see why all the folks who dropped in were so sweet on her. Truth was though, she had eyes only for a courier by the name of Cloud who shared the living quarters upstairs with her, even though they weren't married or even, according to what I'd overheard, even in any sort of relationship. Still, she was a friend of my mother's and she'd give me a bottle of soda pop for the small price of a smile.

I snuck as close as I could to mother and father without being too obvious that I was trying to listen in. Tifa worked out pretty quick what I was doing and moved over to wipe a table next to me and make some small talk so we could listen in.

"She's our guide, Bart?" Mother said, voice worried. "I can see she's plenty tough – she'd have to be to survive out here – but you've got to have noticed it too. She wasn't born out here, and she's got to have lived well to pick up clothes like that. Do you really think she can take us where we need to go?"

"Look, Nora, I know she's lived well and I can tell she wasn't born out here just as easily as you can, but there's toughness in her stronger than anything I've seen and you and I both know I've met some pretty tough folks." Father sighed. "I don't think you should worry too much about what she was – think about what she is instead."

Tifa smiled at that and cleared her throat to get my folks' attention. "I'd listen to Bart, Nora. Lightning hasn't been here too long, but I can tell you this: she's plenty tough, maybe not born tough, but she'd been made tough, made tough in the way that only long years of hardship can. And that's the toughest sort of tough." Tifa punched her right fist into her left palm. "Trust me, after all, I'm pretty tough myself."

I grinned. Tough was an understatement. According to mother, Tifa had been seen no small amount of trouble back east and she had something a reputation in fisticuffs. Besides, in the short time I'd been in Midgar, I'd seen her knock several overeager patrons from pillar to post for trying to do more than just admire her looks from afar. Strange as it sounded, it had been quite pretty to watch her knock around men almost twice her size like they were ragdolls. Yes, if anyone could just Lightning properly, Tifa could.

"If you're sure," mother said softly.

Father looked at Tifa, grateful, and then nodded. "I'm sure, Nora. I've seen her type before. People like her can go two ways. The bad ones are the worst kind of poison there is, but the good ones, the ones like her, are the best sort of folks you could ever hope to meet in a situation like ours. Sure, she's gruff, maybe even cold, but she's honest through and through and her word is as good as gold. Sure enough, you'll see, she'll not let harm come to us as long as she can help it."

"Fine." Mother sighed. "I guess that's how it is."

It was then that Lightning appeared in the doorway of the bar. It occurred to me that she had probably heard every word that we'd spoken, but she looked calm enough. She looked at me first and then at Tifa, and she gave the other woman a curt sort of nod as their eyes met, wine on sapphire. Then her eyes were on mother and father and she stood there calm and easy, waiting for mother to speak.

Mother looked at Lightning again, long and lingering, and Lightning looked back at her. Finally, mother seemed to see what she wanted and her face broke out into one of those warm, lovely smiles that father and I would have given all the money in the world for.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, Lightning? Tifa and I will be cooking and I'd like to get to know you a little better," mother said.

For the barest second, Lightning's features softened and then that cool, indifferent look was back, but there was a warmth in her gaze that lingered a fraction longer before she forced it back. "That's mighty generous of you, Nora. Just give me a moment to see to my chocobo outside."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

So anyway, I've been tossing around various ideas for a longer FF XIII fic set in a Western AU and this is what ended up happening. In case it wasn't made clear at some point during the chapter, things are from Hope's POV. You might also have noticed that I've been a little inconsistent with the setting. For example, they use guns, but there are chocobos. This is a matter of personal preference, since I think chocobos can fit into a Western setting (whereas velocycles probably wouldn't work so well). For those of you wondering about the bartender or the tall man in the saloon, the choice of names was deliberate. I thought it would be fun to translate some of the other FF characters into the same Western setting as Lightning and the others. Finally, for those of you who are wondering, this story is NOT connected to Stetsons and Fal'Cie in any way.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Dinner was all sorts of awkward, but not because of the food. Both mother and Tifa could cook something fierce. No, the awkwardness came when mother, father, and Tifa tired of making small talk and tried to pin Lightning down about her past. Lightning wasn't rude or anything, but she didn't answer back much, and when she did her answer were so short they didn't really amount to anything.

"So, Lightning," father began, "It seems like you're from down south, at least if I'm judging your accent right."

Lightning nodded. "I did spend some time down south." And that was all she said, and by the way she spoke, it was clear that was all she'd say on the matter.

Still, that didn't stop Tifa from trying. "I saw your chocobo earlier. I have to say, we don't get to many like that in these parts."

Lightning nodded again, but her eyes narrowed a fraction too, not mean or anything, but cool enough to let the others know that she was wise to their game and not too fond of it. "Like I said, I've spent some time down south and that's where I picked up my chocobo."

After that things settled a little more as the adults took the hint and left Lightning's past to her. Quiet as she was about her past, Lightning was a little more tractable when it came to other talk.

"What kind of gun do you have?" I asked, not quite able to stop myself when there was a lull in the conversation. I wanted desperately to know because of how fine the gun had looked from what little I'd seen of it.

Lightning looked at me a moment and then at my parents and when father nodded, she reached for her gun and then laid it on the table. My eyes widened as I took a good long look at it. It was a beautiful gun, a clean steel grey and polished almost to a shine. The chambers were all loaded and the hammer sharpened just a little more than normal. There was a plate of darker metal along the side of the grip, not black, but close to it, and there was an intricate design cut into it that I couldn't place. It was maybe the finest gun I'd ever seen, but the longer I looked at it, the more I realised I could quite put a name to its type.

"I don't recognise the type," I said at last. "Though it looks a lot like the single-action Shinra."

Her mouth tightened. "You've a keen eye, Hope, maybe too keen for a city boy. You're right though. It's not a single-action Shinra, although it's a cousin of sorts. So tell me, where'd you learn about guns?"

I flushed, aware suddenly of how I was the centre of her attention. "I just always had an interest in guns and things. I figured maybe when I was older I might ride the range a little, maybe go out and see the world some."

Lightning glanced sideways at my mother and the father and the concerned looks on their faces. It was always something my folks and I had disagreed on, I guess, my going out and seeing the world. Finally, she spoke, and when she did her voice was soft and sort of bitter. "The world's a big place, Hope, and tough too. But there's a difference between knowing about guns and actually using them. You seem like a decent kid and I hope, for your sake, that you never learn what that difference is." She lifted the gun and slotted it back into the holster at her side, the whole motion smooth and easy and perfectly natural.

And so dinner went on, mother and father talking about their plans for the property out West with Tifa and Lightning putting in a comment or two every now and then. The whole time though, I kept thinking about that gun, about how fine it looked and most of all about how right it looked in Lightning's hand. It was like she and the gun were made for each other, two halves of a single deadly whole.

After dinner, Tifa pulled me off to one side and handed me a soda pop as mother and father talked with Lightning about the trip. No doubt, they had some things to fill her in on, like the kinds of things we were carrying in our wagons, and she most likely had some things of her own to tell them too.

"You looked mighty curious about her gun, Hope." Tifa had a keenness about her when it came to what people were thinking. I figured it came from running a bar.

I shrugged and looked down at my soda pop. "It's just… well, I've never seen anyone handle a gun like her before." I took a sip of my soda pop. "How good do you think she is with it?"

Tifa chuckled like I'd said something silly and would have laughed outright if Lightning hadn't shot her a look from way across the bar. Lowering her voice, Tifa smiled at me. "How good is she with it? Why, Hope, I wouldn't be surprised if she could trim you hair with it and all you'd feel would be a breeze."

I gaped. "Really? But how can you be so sure?"

A look, not dark, but kind of sad passed quickly over Tifa's face before she covered it with a smile. "An old friend of mine had a gun like that. It's a special model, you see, not too many were ever made. To get one she'd have to be something special with a gun, really special."

"Wow. Do you think she was in the army then?" I asked. Maybe Tifa knew more than she was letting on and the chance to learn about Lightning past was one I wasn't keen on passing up.

"Not exactly," Tifa answered slowly. "Besides, it's not my place to tell you exactly what she was a part of. Only, you don't have to worry about her being dangerous. What I can say for sure is that she's not dangerous, at least not to decent people like you and your folks." She smiled and ruffled my hair. "If I thought that for even a moment, there's no way I'd let you folks go off with her out West." A faraway sort of look crossed her face. "But trust me, she's the furthest thing from dangerous to you and your folks." Her expression turned a little stern. "And Hope, don't ask her about her past, okay? There are some things you don't ask people about, not if you respect them. She has a right to her past, just as much as you or me, and if she ever does speak about her past it'll be on her own terms and in her own time."

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure of what Tifa was trying to say, but she seemed so earnest and at the same time I could see Lightning staring at us from across the room, her blue eyes almost blinding. "Sure, Tifa," I said at last. "Sure, I won't ask."

X X X

We left Midgar the next morning, maybe a half hour after dawn. Tifa was kind enough to load us up with all kinds of drinks, the sort that would keep the whole journey. Father drove one of the wagons up front and mother and I drove the other just behind. The wagons were pulled by four sturdy black chocobos. They were slower than the golden chocobo that Lightning rode up front, but they were bigger too and better suited for pulling heavy loads long distance.

It was pretty easy going at first, easier than I'd thought anyway. Near the town, the land was close to flat, dusty maybe, but with only a few cracked dry creek beds for scenery and half-dead tumbleweed for company. Still, I wasn't fool enough to think that the easiness would last. Lightning had told us, just before we set off, that the land could turn cruel pretty quickly and that the last thing we should do was get too secure. It didn't take too much longer to see that she was right.

Around noon the wind began to kick up till it was no longer a light breeze, but a hot, searing gale that roared up from the southwest. It was like breathing fire and when the wind picked the dust up and flung it into our faces we had no choice but to tie handkerchiefs around her faces, never mind how hot it was. Only Lightning didn't bother with a handkerchief. Instead, she just slid her scarf up and over her face and continued on in front of us. It wasn't too much longer either before the road ended, just sort of faded away, because not enough people passed this way to make it permanent. It didn't seem to matter much to Lightning though, because she just kept on riding on, and we had no choice but to trust her and follow her through the swirling dust and hot, heavy wind.

Near dusk, the wind let up enough for us to drop the handkerchiefs and I hopped off the wagon where my mother was and ran over to the wagon that my father was on so that I could try and maybe get a word in edgewise with Lightning.

"Hey," I said. She looked at me and I squirmed. "I mean… how do you think we're doing?"

She scanned the land ahead for a moment and then slowed her pace enough so that she and her chocobo were level with my seat on the wagon beside father. "Not bad, I guess, for city folk, but it's been easy so far. Tomorrow will be tougher."

"Tougher?" I asked. "How?" I wasn't much looking forward to another day of eating dust.

"Have a look ahead, Hope." She pointed forward. "If you look closely, you should just be able to see some hills." I squinted and then nodded. I could just make out the hills. "Those hills are bigger than they look and plenty rough. One wrong step and a chocobo can break a leg or worse." She pointed ahead again, this time to a copse of trees. They were scraggly things, almost dead and with few leaves, but they formed a bulwark against the wind. "We'll make camp their tonight. There are other things about those hills you'll need to know."

We made camp in the trees just as dusk was turning the sky all shades of orange. We parked the wagons into a 'V' shape to block the wind and made a fire in the middle to cook our dinner. It was mostly canned stuff and dried stuff, none of it too tasty even with mother's special talent for cooking, but I figured I best get used to it, seeing as how I had another three or so months of it to look forward to.

"Before we head into those hills, there's some things you should know," Lightning said as we finished up dinner. "Listen closely now."

We all nodded.

"Those hills are rough terrain, but that isn't the trickiest thing." Lightning's gaze hardened. "There are all sorts of things out there, many of them hungry and with teeth and claws big enough to make you an easy meal." She paused, let the words sink in. "So I need to know right now what I can expect from each of you gun-wise." She looked at me first. "Can you use a gun, Hope?" 

I shook my head feeling a little embarrassed. "No… well… I mean father hasn't taught me how."

Lightning looked at me and then at father, but her gaze wasn't angry or disappointed. She simply waited for father to nod and then nodded herself. "Well then, Bart, how about you?"

Father nodded. "I can handle a gun well enough."

Lightning nodded at a tree maybe fifteen feet away. In the glow of the fire it was easy to see a big knot in its bark. "Put a bullet in that."

Father grimaced. "Let me get my gun." He went over to one of the wagons and came back with his gun. It was a single-action Shinra, almost brand new by the look of it. He lined up his shot, his stance even and his hands pretty steady, and then he fired. The gun barked once and I peered at the tree. There was a hole in the bark a couple of inches from the edge of the knot.

"Not bad," Lightning said softly. "But not good either. From now on, you wear that gun with you at all times unless I say otherwise and if you so much as think you see something dangerous, then you let me know. If you don't think you've got the time to do that, then you fire first and then call for me, understand?"

Father nodded. "When you say something dangerous, what sort of thing do you mean?"

Lightning opened her mouth to reply but then she stopped and her eyes locked onto something in the long grass around the trees, way out beyond the circle of light cast by the fire. I followed her gaze, squinting to try and make something out in the darkness, but I couldn't see a thing. A grim look crossed Lightning face and she took a big handful of dust and doused the fire. "Watch closely now."

Almost the moment the fire died down, I saw the long grass move even though the wind was still. A sleek, feline shape appeared. It was close to the size of a man with glittering amber eyes and long teeth. Beside me, I heard mother gasp and father moved to point his gun at it.

"Don't move," Lightning ordered. "That's a hill cat, though it's rare to see one out on the plains like this, even if we are close to the hills. When we get into those hills there'll be plenty more like this, and likely harder to spot amongst all the boulders and rocks." The cat lowered itself into a crouch and tensed, ready to spring. "Let me handle this."

The cat sprang. Yet at the very instant it moved that power inside Lightning, that furious, barely leashed energy and capacity for violence leapt forth to meet it. Her blue eyes flashed and her pink hair swayed in the sudden swiftness of her movement. "With a big cat like this, you can't afford to miss your first shot. The best place to put a shot is in the upper chest." And as she spoke she was doing it. Her hand swept down to her side and then her gun was up and the gun was still in motion as she fired once and stepped aside. The gun roared and the cat thudded to the ground where she'd been only a moment ago, its head down in the dust, its amber eyes glowing with fury. "The chest is a bigger target, hard to miss too up close if you're even a half decent shot and more often than not the cat won't get back up from it." She turned to look at us – at me – and her face was blank of any emotion as she added, "Once you've got the cat down, take your time with the second shot. Line it up with the head and then fire." The gun roared again and the cat jerked harshly to one side from the impact and then lay still. "See."

With that she went over to the fire and lit it back up and I got my first real look at the cat. It seemed even bigger in the firelight and it was a sort of tawny colour. For some reason, looking at it with a hole in its head and chest, I almost wanted to cry.

"You see that, Hope?" Lightning said softly as she met my gaze. "This what a gun does. A gun is for killing and really, when you get right down to it, there's nothing pretty about that."

I glanced down at her hand and noticed there was a knife in it. "What are you going to do with that?"

Lightning tilted her head at the big cat. "If you kill something, don't let it go to waste, especially out here. The meat from is good for you and if you treat it right in the fire it'll keep for almost a week." She took the cat by one leg and dragged it away. "Head on back to the fire, Hope, you don't need to see this.

It wasn't too long before Lightning came back to the fire with several slices of meat and while mother looked a little green about the gills at first, the smell that came from the cooking meat was something wonderful. Besides, I think we all recognised how important it was to conserve supplies. Things could easily get tough and if we could save some supplies by eating something else decent, then why not?

Later on, when everyone else had bedded down for the night, except for Lightning who was keeping watch, I had a hard time getting to sleep. At first I wasn't sure why, but then it hit me. Lightning had been wearing her jacket when she'd gone off to the cut up that cat, but when she'd come back to the fire, she'd still had it on yet there hadn't been even a single drop of blood on her as far as I could tell.

I shuddered and pulled my blankets a little tighter. People never got that good at cutting things up without plenty of practice. The last thing I saw before I fell asleep was Lightning's silhouette through the fabric of the wagon. It might have been a trick of the firelight or maybe my own tiredness, but it seemed almost like she was holding the knife in her hand and just staring and staring at it.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

Well, it looks like the journey is under way. It's only been a day and already Hope and his parents are finding out that there is more to their journey and their guide than they thought. If you're wondering about the geography of their journey, I wouldn't recommend looking up the map for the FF XIII world. The geography of the setting is something I've pretty much made up, although some of the names and places will seem familiar.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

We got going pretty early the next morning when the sun was still just a smudge of oranges and pinks and yellows low in the eastern sky. It was summer and so it was already hot even though the dawn had only just broken, and it would stay hot right through till sundown and maybe even through the night if we weren't lucky. Still, bad as the weather was, we needed it. There were some big mountains between us and the land father had bought. Trying to get through those was tough, real tough, even during summer but during any other season, even spring, it would be just about suicide.

The wind wasn't nearly as bad as the day before, although it was pretty windy anyway. As before, I rode in the wagon up the back with mother while Lightning rode up front and father just behind in his own wagon. I could hear them talking as we went, or rather, I heard father talk a fair bit and Lightning reply every now and then. Most times, she only said a word or two, or if she couldn't avoid it a full sentence and sometimes even two.

Around midday, the dusty plain finally gave way to the hill country. The ground turned from loose dust to rough earth and in place of tumbleweed there were tall, thin, scraggly trees that clung tight to the hillsides and boxed in the narrow trail we were on too much for my liking.

"Keep an eye out for hill cats," Lightning said and I felt my pulse quicken. The hill cat from the night before was still fresh in my mind, its body all sleek muscle and finely honed deadliness.

Beside me, mother shifted to put her shotgun across her lap. I was reminded again that mother hadn't grown up in the city, she'd grown up out in the border country. She might look all sweet and be nice and kind to father and I, but she could be all sorts of fierce when the situation called for it. Up front, father had a shotgun too and Lightning had her pistol. I figured Lightning probably had another gun hidden in her saddle roll, but I hadn't had the chance to ask her, and thinking back to what Tifa had said, I thought it would be best if I never did.

For the most part, the hills were rough going, steep more often than not, and the path could get real narrow in a hurry. More than once, the trees on one side of the path would clear and I'd find myself looking down a steep ravine, the only thing keeping me in one piece the sure footedness of the chocobos pulling the wagon. I have to admit, I'd never really put much stock in how agile the big black chocobos we had were, but they seemed to have a sixth sense for how best to handle the trail.

Near midday, we came up to a river in the shadow between two hills. It was a wide river, fifty, maybe sixty feet across and fast flowing too. There were rocks scattered through it, boulders really, and great splashes of water came up as the water pounded into them. Up close to the river, the heat abated some as the spray of river water filled the air and I took a few moments to savour the feel of it before I hopped down to get a drink

"Not so fast, Hope," Lightning said as I leaned forward to drink.

I stopped, puzzled. "There something wrong with the water?"

Lightning shook her head. "The water's fine. It's what in the water that you should be careful of."

She went over to her saddle roll and came back with a piece of dried hill cat meat and held it over the water. There was a splash and she jerked her hand back just in time to avoid a jaw full of razor sharp teeth. My eyes widened and my mouth just sort of dropped open. Was that a fish, and with teeth like that? Before I could even think of what question to ask, she threw the piece of meat into the middle of the river.

There was a splash as several of the large fish, each about three feet long, leapt for the piece of meat. They dropped together into the river, the meat between them, and water churned as they fought over it.

"Those fish swim up river in autumn. During summer they'll eat just about anything with meat on it and that includes people. One fish isn't much a problem, but this river is full of them." Lightning tilted her head up river. "There should be a shallower crossing up river, narrower too. The water will be faster, but there won't be so many and we should get across okay."

I gulped. To think I'd almost put my hand into the river.

Lightning's lips curled up just a fraction from what must have been a pretty funny look on my face. "Still," she said. "We could use some more water." She reached over to her canteen and looped a long length of stout string about it. "Watch." She tossed the canteen into the water and waited for it to fill up before she reeled it in. "The fish don't go for things without meat on them."

I nodded glad that Lightning was with me and my folks. She sure knew a lot about things out here. I headed back to the wagons to get our canteens and once those were full again, we headed up river.

As the day turned over toward dusk, I let myself take in the feeling of the hills. It was different out here, much different from most anything I'd ever seen. Back in the city, things were crowded and noisy and there was dust and smoke. Out here, there was nobody else but us and the air was crisp and clean, the kind of air that made you want to take a big, deep breath in and hold it till your lungs were full to bursting. It was quiet too, save for the sounds of our chocobos and the squeak of wagon wheels. The motion of the wagon was plenty peaceful too, and I would have nodded off more than once or twice if mother hadn't poked me to stay awake.

Only Lightning seemed ill at ease, or rather, watchful. As always, her eyes were roving over everything and though she rode just as easily in the saddle as ever, it was clear to see that she was fit to deal with anything in scarcely a moment's notice.

The hills rose up with each hour we travelled and as I looked over each new vista I felt fresh awe. In the clear still air, I could see the shadow of the town back east and the broad open plain before it. I could see the dust blown low along the ground by the wind and the cracked dry creek beds like bloodless veins in the parched, dusty land. It was, I felt, just the sight to move the heart, to make a boy wonder at how great the land was and how much greater it could be if we could but come to grips with it.

Yet as the afternoon rolled by, I got the sense that we were being followed and I reckoned that mother and father felt it too. Both of them were nervous, sitting up a little too straight and with their hands a little too tight on their guns. It was a curious feeling and one I did not like and I shouted out to Lightning to see if she felt it too.

"You're right, Hope. We're being followed." Lightning eased back to ride level with me. "But not by people, if that's your worry."

"Not by people?" I murmured. "But then by whom? Who else would bother?"

Lightning's face was grim. "Like I said, these hills are tough. There are groups of hill cats out here, as many as ten in a group. They hunt together and a group of them has been tracking us for quite a spell."

"But why?"

Lightning looked at me and I felt a little silly for almost as soon as I had spoken, I knew the answer.

"Why else, Hope. They're hungry."

"What'll we do?" I felt an almost cloying panic. There were only four of us, and only three of us knew how to use a gun.

"We'll be fine till sundown. They've had ample chance to get us and if they haven't by now it's because they're not confident. They'll wait till sundown and when we're sitting down to eat and getting careless they'll move in." Lightning's gaze, hard as she spoke softened as she turned her gaze to me. "I meant what I said earlier, Hope. I'll look after you and your folks. Five cats or fifty, it doesn't matter. No harm will come to you."

It was strange to hear her speak like that, to hear her boast, but then I thought back to what I'd already seen her do and realised it wasn't really a boast at all. She was simply speaking the truth and though were her words were bold, because it was she who said them I knew they were the truth. We'd be just fine.

X X X

So dusk rolled around and my folks and I set the wagons up in a small clearing that Lightning had found. We were all a little nervous at first, looking over our shoulders as we worked, but as the minutes passed and there was no sign of the hill cats things settled down. Soon, we got the fire started and with the smell of good food in the air along with the murmur of small talk, it was easy to forget that were being watched. The only sign, really, that anything was wrong were the guns that mother and father kept by them along with a box of shells.

We were just finishing dinner when Lightning's face tightened and she gave my parents each a long, searching look. Listening carefully, I realised that the chocobos had gone all quiet. Almost as one, mother and father grabbed their rifles and spun to face the outside of the clearing. And just in time too. The first of the cats sprinted out from between the trees and the two of them fired together. The cat made a funny sort of shriek and fell, shot in two places, not dead, but too wounded to get closer.

More of the cats appeared from all sides and I gave a frightened shout as I scrambled over to mother and father. They were pressed back to back, and since I couldn't use a gun, I did my best to hand them as many shells as they needed, my hands shaking fiercely and my stomach doing flip-flops.

Lightning stood a little ways off, for she'd seen a few of the other cats break away and make for the chocobos. Her gun fired once and then again, the two shots so close together I had to struggle to tell them apart. Two of the cats went down, shot clean through the head only a few feet from the chocobos. Strange as it was, she seemed almost relaxed, her fine features utterly at ease as she lined up another shot and then another, gun and woman moving together as one as if they'd been born for this exact specific purpose.

"Look out!" I shouted as another trio of cats emerged from the trees behind Lightning.

She turned and saw them and fired twice at the cat in front. The bullets smashed into it and it slid across the dirt behind her, dead and then to my disbelief she holstered her gun. A split-second later I realised why. She'd fired six times already and that mean she needed to reload. The other two cats leapt together and I screamed another warning.

At the last moment, she ducked and the two cats went over her. She reached down to the ground and for the first time I realised she had her saddle roll with her. The cats darted forward again and there was a sudden blur of motion as she and the cats swept past one another. And then one of the cats stumbled and almost like magic it fell, sliced cleanly in half.

My eyes shot back to Lightning and I saw at last what she'd hidden in her saddle roll and pulled free only a moment ago. It was a cavalry sabre, the blade shimmering in the firelight and stained with crimson. She looked regal then, unearthly, staring back at the other cat, her features cold and perfect and seemingly carved of finest marble. Even mother and father stopped and stared for a moment as the few other remaining cats turned and leapt toward Lightning together, realising by now who was the biggest threat.

The sabre flashed and Lightning seemed almost to blur as she danced through the storm of blows before she turned the tides almost without effort, the one woman somehow pressing the whole group of hill cats. Steel met flesh with impossible force and before I knew it, the battle was over and Lightning stood alone in the midst of the carnage she'd created as the last few of the hill cats slunk back into the shadows.

For a few seconds, she just stood there. Blood trickled off the sabre and onto the ground. She took a deep, deep breath and held it, almost as though she were savouring the scent of blood and death that surrounded her. And then she turned to us and the lethal elegance that had filled her only a few moments ago seemed to melt away until she was once more our quiet, gruff guide rather than some kind of killing machine.

"I expect that's the only trouble we'll get from them," Lightning said. "They've our measure now and I doubt it's to their liking." Our measure? More likely, the hill cats had her measure and were nothing short of terrified.

What happened next was tame by comparison. We cleaned up and after that we all went to bed except for Lightning. She said she'd take first watch and wake father up after he'd had some time to sleep. The whole time we were cleaning up though, I couldn't shake the feeling of how useless I'd been. The next day I'd ask father if I could learn how to use a gun. It might be dangerous to learn how to use one, but if today were any measure, it was more dangerous not to. I also wondered about the sabre Lightning had and where she'd gotten it from. Far as I knew, only people who'd served in the cavalry had ones like that, although I hadn't really gotten a good enough look at it to be sure. More than that though, I wanted to know where she'd learned how to use it like that, though thinking more on it, I wasn't sure that I'd like the answer.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off of this.

So, here's the third chapter. I wanted to move Hope forward a little more in this and I think him really wanting to learn how to defend himself (and his family) is a part of that. I also wanted to bring in the idea of Lightning being good with a sword, because I think it's just the sort of thing that would both impress and unnerve people. For those of you who are curious, cavalry really did continue to use sabres even after guns had become widespread.

For those of you that are interested, this story is based on the stereotypical Western setting but I haven't kept entirely to it. That means that certain elements (e.g., chocobos) have been retained from Final Fantasy. However, I have tried to keep things reasonably consistent (e.g., there won't be any velocycles).

As always, I welcome your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

It took me a few solid days of generally making a nuisance of myself before father finally agreed to teach me how to use a gun. Rather than start me off on the shotgun, he thought it best to teach me how to handle something smaller first. What he had in mind was the pistol he'd also brought along, a single-action Shinra. He decided too, that he'd teach me during the day whenever we had the chance to stop for a while. It would be hard enough, he figured, to teach me how to use a gun without worrying about me accidentally shooting someone or something in the dark.

When it came to the hill cats, we'd been lucky. Since we'd fought them, we hadn't seen hide or hair of them. We'd killed quite a number of them and Lightning said that they were scared of us now and wouldn't be back for quite a spell, if ever. More than that though, she also said that a group that large must've had a real big slice of territory for their own and that since groups of hill cats didn't take to sharing their territory too well with other groups, we probably wouldn't have to worry about any more attacks for a while.

When it came to how to use a gun, the very first thing that father had me do was just hold it and get used to the feel of it. I'd never held a gun before and I always figured they couldn't be too heavy, seeing as how the few people I've seen who were experienced in their use always seemed to move them so quick and easy. I was especially thinking of Lightning, of how quick she'd been before when fighting the hill cats, the woman and the gun moving together again and again in swift, blurring instants of impossible speed. Holding the gun in my hands and feeling the weight of it, I felt that I was understanding, perhaps for the first time, how tough Lightning had to be.

After I'd gotten used to holding the gun, father taught me how to sight it. I saw Lightning watching us keenly as he showed me how to raise the gun a little bit higher than I thought the target would be before bringing it down so that the sight at the end of the barrel was level with the target. It was slower than I'd thought, more clumsy too. It occurred to me then that Lightning didn't have a sight on her gun. The barrel, from what I could remember, was smooth and straight. She must have filed it off, or else, never had one to begin with and I wondered how she could aim so well.

It was a few more days before father finally gave me some bullets and taught me how to load and unload the gun. The next time we stopped in a clearing at the middle of day was when he finally gave me the chance to try and hit a target for real.

"I want you to try and hit the middle of that tree there," father said. "Aim for that scratch in the bark."

I nodded. Suddenly, my heart was pounding. Realistically, the tree couldn't have been more than maybe twenty two feet away, but I felt like it might as well have been a mile off. I squeezed the trigger slowly, my legs spread slightly to brace against the force of the shot. As the hammer eased back, the pounding in my ears became storm of thunder. I almost closed my eyes.

BANG!

The gun leapt in my hands and I had to force my eyes to stay open against the tremendous burst of noise and the sudden curl of smoke. The shockwave of the shot rolled up my hands and jarred my wrists and elbows before it reached my shoulders and buffeted my whole body so that I almost stumbled to the ground. Dimly, I heard my father say something, but my eyes were only on the target. Not only had I missed the scratch on the bark, I'd missed the tree entirely.

"Not too bad, Hope, for a first try," father said.

As I regathered myself for another shot, I chanced a look at Lightning. I knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't laugh, no matter how bad I was, but I'd half-expected at least a wry grin or upturned lip. Instead, the only thing she looked was sad. It would be years before I understood why she looked so sad watching me handle a gun, but by then Lightning would be gone.

Things went on like that for almost a week. We'd set out each morning at first light and do as best we could until noon when the heat made things rough enough that we just had to rest. Father would try teaching me shooting then and once it was cool enough to go, we keep on until nightfall. The nights were easier too, now that we didn't have to worry so much about hill cats, but Lightning told us not to get too used to it. She felt that we were probably going to be out of their territory soon and a new group would have no reason to fear us. She also mentioned that we probably had another week, week and half in the hills too.

That wasn't to say that going was easy. The hills were rough, even if we were getting used to them, and the heat was building to its summer peak. Father had taken to rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and I didn't think it would be long before he was down to just his singlet. Mother suffered a little too, even after she'd changed into lighter, thinner dresses. As for me, I settled for rolling up my sleaves and unbuttoning a few more buttons more than was proper, but I had a singlet on underneath, although I would have ditched that too if mother hadn't said it would be improper. Only Lightning seemed to shrug off the heat. It was like she was fighting it off through sheer force of will, the inner cold that gripped her and stole every now and then into her gaze more than a match for any outward heat.

The chocobos needed looking after too. It wasn't the heat – they were hardy enough against that – but one of them had tripped and sprained a leg. It wasn't too bad, nothing really, that a few days of taking it easy couldn't fix. But unhitching a chocobo to walk alongside a wagon rather than pull it put more pressure on the others and slowed our pace. We busted a wagon wheel too, but father was good with things like that and so was Lightning and we were back on our way quick enough.

On the food front, things were actually pretty good. Our supplies were in good shape and we passed no small number of streams and rivers. Sure, we had to be careful when getting our water from them, but that wasn't so bad. Every now and then, Lightning would go hunting, as well. She'd disappear for a few moments and then I'd hear a single shot before she came back with some bird or other animal for us to eat. Credit to mother, she was quite a cook and despite never having seen some of the things that Lightning brought back before, she dealt with them well enough. It was through her hunting that I first learned that Lightning was no slouch when it came to cooking either.

Lightning had just come back with a big bird, a kind I'd never seen before. She laid it on the ground in front of mother.

"You've quite a talent with a gun," mother commented quietly. "You've shot that bird clean through the head and not a mark on the rest of it."

Lightning looked at mother over the body of the bird. "You're a fine cook, Nora, especially considering where we are. I'll not make things harder for you by putting a bullet hole through the best of the bird."

Mother laughed lightly. Since the hill cat attack, she'd warmed up to Lightning a little. They weren't best friends or anything, but she trusted Lightning now and knew the pink haired woman wouldn't let harm come to us. Maybe too, she wanted female company, someone to talk to about things she couldn't speak of with father or me. I wasn't sure how much luck she'd have with Lightning, but it couldn't hurt for her to try.

"Still, I can't say I've cooked one of these before." Mother lifted the bird up. "How do you normally prepare it?"

I'd expected Lightning to give some curt response, but she kind of looked at mother funnily and then the carefully managed shutters over her heart opened just a fraction, because she smiled, a little smile, but a genuine one. "It's best to cut the meat real thin and then smoke it for maybe half an hour. Add some mint first too, if you can, or maybe garlic instead if you have it." She paused. "The wood you smoke it with makes quite a difference too. I like apple wood, but cedar works just fine too."

Mother's eyes widened almost comically. "Why, Lightning!" she exclaimed. "I never pegged you for a cook."

Lightning looked away, and I thought I might have seen a flush across her cheeks, although that could have been the heat. "I don't get much chance to cook these days, but when I was young…" Her voice grew so gentle that it almost hurt. "I looked after my sister some." She would have said more, I reckon, but her mind had caught up to her mouth and she clammed up right quick and her eyes weren't warm anymore, but cold and so I knew she'd not speak anymore of her family. A sigh escaped her as she stood and turned away. "I'll go see if I can find some good wood to smoke that bird on."

As Lightning strolled off into the darkness to look for wood, I went over to mother.

"Lightning said she had a sister. Where do you think her sister is now?" I asked.

Mother shushed me. "Hush now, Hope. I'm starting to see what Tifa meant. I saw it there, if only for a moment. It takes a lot of skill and patience to learn to cook well and just from what she said, I can tell she can cook just fine. Something must have happened to her, something bad, to make her the way she is now and I don't think it's our place to ask exactly what." Then a gleam came to mother's eye, one that I knew meant trouble for Lightning. "Still, can you believe it? A fellow cook out here! I'll not let your father talk her ear off with all his chat about the government and farming and building. Those things are all fine and good, and I've plenty to say about them myself, but it'll be nice to have another woman to talk to. Why, I'll have to sit her down and pry some recipes out of her for all the animals out this way!"

And from day onward, whenever she could, mother would do her best to get Lightning to talk about cooking. Lightning was awkward at first, but once she realised that mother had no intention of asking about her past or her sister, she relaxed plenty, or at least what passed for plenty when it came to Lightning. It wasn't long either before mother managed to move their talks about cooking to sewing, gardening, housekeeping and other such things. Much to my surprise, Lightning seemed to know about all these things, things that were, for want of a better word, related to being mothering. To me that was very odd. Lightning had at least a few years left before thirty and so I doubted she'd been a mother herself, but she had mentioned a sister and it wasn't too unlikely that the sister was young enough that maybe Lightning had taken to mothering her. Only that left two questions. First, what had happened to make Lightning look after her sister like a mother would, and second, where was that sister now? I figured that if she had loved her sister enough to mother her, then she'd hardly just leave her. Maybe Lightning's sister was dead. That would certainly explain why Lightning always seemed so sad.

Things changed almost a week and a half after father started teaching me how to use a gun. Lightning was watching me handle the pistol while father went off to get some water. Normally, she'd have gone with him, but the stream was real close, easily within earshot, actually, and she'd already had a quick look around to look for anything dangerous.

Usually, she'd just watch me try and practice, but this time, she pushed herself off from the fallen rock that she was sitting on and walked over to me. I stopped what I was doing and waited for her to come over. I was actually feeling a little good about things for once, because while I hadn't managed to hit my target, a knot in the bark of a tree, I had managed to hit the tree. Mother had clapped in appreciation, making me both pretty happy and pretty embarrassed. As Lightning walked over, I saw her turn and something passed over my mother's face, the briefest flash of something serious, before she nodded at Lightning.

"Give me the gun, Hope," Lightning said gently. 

I gave her the gun and watched as the cold metal seemed almost to come alive in her hands. She turned it over and over, the movements natural and precise and agile. She tested the weight of the gun and then emptied the chambers. With a flick of her wrist, she locked the empty chambers back into place and slipped one finger into the trigger guard. Then the gun was spinning around her finger before she tossed it into the air and caught it with an ease that made me think that she was born to it.

"This is a good gun," she said softly. "Not the best I've ever used, but a good gun all the same."

I looked back at my target. "I still can't seem to hit my target though."

Lightning's lip quirked up a tad. "With a gun like this it's probably not the gun's fault so much as the gunner's." The words made me flush, but there was no malice in them, only a statement of fact mixed with the faintest hint of wry amusement. "I know you're father's been teaching you how to shoot and your father is a good a man." She raised the gun. "What I'd like to do now is teach you how I shoot."

I furrowed my brow. "Is my father doing things wrong?"

Lightning didn't seem unsure so much as she seemed to be searching carefully for how best to put things. "Not exactly, Hope. But your father was taught to use a gun to defend himself and that's how he's teaching you. Me, I use a gun to attack and attacking and defending are two pretty different things." She paused. "It's not that one is necessarily better than the other. It's just that in some situations it make more sense to attack than defend." She glanced quickly at the hill country around us, wild and beautiful. "Out here, and when you get out West, you'll find that it's better most of the time to get the first shot in than wait and then shoot back."

Lightning moved a few steps back. "Watch." She raised the gun. "You've got two problems. The first is that you take too long to aim and the way you do it isn't natural. I can see you thinking while you're aiming, thinking about if you're doing things right or not. What you want to do is make the act of aiming as natural as you can so you don't have to think." She uncurled her index finger from the trigger and let it rest flat along the barrel of the gun. "See how I'm holding the gun? The way I'm holding it means that if I were to point with my index finger, then that's where the gun would be aiming. This way, I don't have to worry about taking a sight. I just point, nice and easy, like I was pointing a finger."

And as she spoke, she did it. The gun moved swiftly, and I could all but see where she was aiming because really it was just like she was pointing with her finger. I was transfixed. It was beautiful.

"The second problem you have, Hope, is that you're scared."

I shook my head. "I'm not scared of anything."

"Really?" And then she turned, fast and deadly and the gun leapt in her hands to point level at my head. Even though I knew, absolutely knew, that the gun was empty, I still cried out when she pulled the trigger.

I felt foolish, actually, beyond foolish. She looked at me, at my face still burning with shame, and I felt myself quake beneath the keenness of her gaze. After a few moments, she must have seen something she liked, for her gaze grew softer. "There isn't anything wrong with fear, Hope. But when it comes to guns, if you're going to be afraid of something, don't be afraid of the gun. Be afraid of what it turns people into."

In my curiosity, my embarrassment began to fade. "What do you mean?"

"A gun is just a tool, Hope. Sure, it can kill people, but a shovel can do that too, if you know what you're doing." She paused. "What's different about a gun is what it does to people. Some decent folk turn into monsters when you give them a gun, but others, even if they seem mediocre, can turn into heroes. Problem is, Hope, you can't usually tell which way people will go before they get a gun."

I wondered then which category Lightning fell into. Was she a hero, or a monster? I must have whispered the question under my breath, because Lightning's gaze whipped back to me, fierce and almost angry, and then she turned away.

"Here," Lightning said, tossing me the gun and then the bullets. "Try again."

My hands were shaking as I tried to load the gun.

"BANG!"

I almost jumped out of my skin at the suddenness of Lightning's shout. My hands went crazy and the bullets and gun fell to the ground.

"You're still scared, Hope." Lightning's voice was soft, but her words were like thunder in my ears. "You won't be able to aim that gun until you can put up with the sound it makes."

I reached for the gun and bullets.

"BANG!"

"BANG!"

"BANG!"

I don't know how long this went on, but finally, I noticed my hands weren't shaking anymore. As I lifted the gun, I tried to remember what Lightning had said. The bullets slid into the chambers and I snapped them back into place. Make it like pointing a gun, I thought. Make it natural. I closed my eyes and when I opened them I turned to the target and tried to hold the gun so that it would be just like a finger pointing. I fired.

BANG.

I missed the target, but I was closer, much closer than I'd been before that.

"Did you see that?" I yelled. "I almost hit it!"

Lightning nodded. "Not bad." She glanced at the tree. "Try again."

I managed to get off one more shot before my father came back. When he saw the way that I was shooting, he took several angry steps forward. Lightning saw him coming and met his furious look coolly. But then mother caught him by the arm and they were whispering to each, soft, but angry. Finally father sighed and nodded.

"I figure I should be mad about you teaching my boy how to shoot," father said. "But seeing as how you can shoot better than me, I guess I could let it slide."

Lightning tilted her head a fraction. "It's much appreciated, Bart." I was young, but even I could tell that she was thanking him for more than just the chance to teach me how to shoot.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off of this.

This chapter marks the first mention of Lightning's family, which gives the Estheim family the first real clue as to why she turned out the way she is. Hope is also learning how to shoot. This isn't just a way of making him more useful. It's also a way for him to try and understand Lightning better, something that he is trying very hard to do. The part with Lightning and Nora was something that I didn't really think about – it just sort of happened. Afterwards, I felt that it fit quite well. It also helped dissipate some of the tension between Lightning and Nora, which was another positive. The style of shooting that Lightning is teaching Hope is modelled off the style employed by the titular character in the Western novel Shane.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Those last few days in hill country were some of the best in my life. In later years, I would remember with great fondness the way that mother and father both tried to get a hold of Lightning for some talking once we'd made camp for the night. Father would start in on her with his talk of plans for the land he'd bought out West and mother would chime in as soon as she could with questions about some recipe or other. Lightning would be caught between them, doing her best to juggle two conversations when likely even one was more than she really wanted. That was the closest I ever saw Lightning to looking scared, especially, when mother shot father a vicious glare and all but dragged Lightning away for a talk about the latest fashions back east.

Still, I didn't miss the undercurrent of unease that seemed to seep through Lightning as the days rolled by without any sign of other hill cats. I actually asked her if anything was wrong but she waved me off. It was better, she said, not to worry about things until she was actually sure that there was something to worry about.

It was on our last day in hill country that she finally spoke. We were on a clearing overlooking the plains ahead. They were wide and rich and green and with the sky so blue and clear it seemed impossible that anything she could say could bring down the mood.

"I think we may have a problem." Lightning spoke calmly, as though she were simply going to mention the heat.

Father looked at her carefully, his lips a little tighter than a moment ago. "What sort of problem?"

"I've been looking for signs of hill cats the last few days," Lighting said. "I haven't seen a thing."

"That doesn't seem so bad," father said.

"Maybe, but out here there should be a good sized group of them, or at least some sign of one." Lightning's brow creased a fraction. "I also found some tracks a day ago and that together with the lack of hill cats means there's likely only explanation."

"And what were you thinking that explanation would be?" mother asked.

Lightning's hand dropped, most likely without her even knowing it, to the pistol at her side. "There are things larger than hill cats out here, much larger. Most of the time, they're content to keep to themselves, but every now and then you run into them." She saw mother and father's curious looks and added, "They're hard to describe, especially, since whenever you run into them you're not looking to take down a description."

"They've got a name, though?" father asked, practical as ever. "And are you really sure we've got whatever one of these things is after us?"

Lightning nodded. "I'm sure and as for names, they call them adamantine bears."

Silence fell at the sound of the name, for just the words alone conveyed a sense of strength and power that was less than comforting to think about.

"When can we expect trouble?" mother asked.

Lightning shrugged. "Most likely it'll happen some time at night. Adamantine bears see well in the dark and they're mostly nocturnal."

The day went on and despite the slightly cooler weather brought on by a rush of cloud from up north, no one seemed too energetic. Mother and father, especially, looked worried and whenever we stopped, one of them was always looking into the trees as if they thought the adamantine bear would just burst out at any moment. Lightning too seemed ill at ease and it bothered me greatly to see someone as tough as her look concerned.

When night came, we set up camp as usual, although mother and father were careful to keep their guns within easy reach and to make sure I had mine. As always, Lightning took first watch and the last thing I saw before I fell asleep was her solitary figure by the fire. Her jacket was pulled back so that her hand had a clear path to her pistol and the long saddle roll that held her sabre was draped across her lap.

X X X

I woke to hear a great crash and rolled to my feet, or at least I tried to. My feet got tangled in my sleeping roll and I tumbled to the ground. Cursing, and not caring a bit that mother might hear, I dragged myself free just in time for a tremendous roar to split the air. It was the loudest sound I could remember hearing and it was the sound of all my nightmares rolled into one.

"Up, all of you!" Lightning shouted as she grabbed me by the collar and pulled me along behind a fallen stump for cover. Mother and father were already there and seeing that they were okay, I finally managed to turn my eyes back to see what had caused all of the ruckus.

Even without being told, I knew that the massive creature that stood silhouetted by the dying embers of the fire was the adamantine bear. It was shaped like a bear, but instead of fur it had interlocking plates of scale-like armour that were varying shades of grey. Its eyes were a fierce amber, and reared up on its hind legs it was two and half, maybe even three times as tall as the average man. Dagger like teeth filled its jaws and as it turned to us, a shiver ran through me that wasn't due to the coolness of the night.

The adamantine bear roared again and as the chocobos strained against the ropes that tethered them to the wagons, father took up his shotgun and opened fire. The pellets sprayed into the creature's shoulder amidst a shower of sparks, but the creature didn't seem hurt so much as angry. It turned to father and I saw him and mother freeze beneath its glare. I fumbled for my gun, but I too could feel the weight of the creature's presence bearing down on me and it seemed all the strength was gone from my limbs.

With another bellow, the adamantine bear charged and for one terrible instant the only thing I could think of was the damage it would inflict with its massive bulk as it hurtled into my parents and I. But then Lightning was leaping forward, faster than I thought possible. She fired as she leapt, three shots, all of them aimed for the eyes, but the adamantine bear jerked its head away and the bullets went wide. She landed on the ground just in front of it and as it leaned down to slash at her with its claws, she jumped onto its back and there was a rustle of cloth and then her sabre was showing.

Lightning stabbed the weapon down into the adamantine bear's back and there was a hideous grinding sound as the point of the weapon scrabbled along the adamantine bear's scales before it finally found its mark between two of them and dug deep. The bear howled and arched its great bulk up to fling her off. But Lightning was ready and she threw her weight onto the sabre to press it deeper as her boots fought for purchase. At the same, she tried to get her gun around to fire at the adamantine bear's eyes, the only weak point that it had as far as I could see.

"Keep back!" Lightning yelled as the adamantine bear went berserk and begun to toss itself from side to side in a frantic bid to be rid of her. "Stay clear!"

Mother and father looked fit to disobey, but when the adamantine bear all but tore a tree out by the roots with a careless swipe of its claw in its mad attempt to dislodge Lightning, they dropped back.

"Damn it," father muttered as he tried to draw a bead on the bear's face. "I can't get a clear shot without chancing hitting Lightning too!"

My stomach churned with dread and worry as I watched Lightning ride the beast as best she could. Somehow, she managed to twist the blade and the adamantine bear gave another furious shriek as the sabre slid deeper into its back. Bright red blood bubbled up from the wound and with a burst of manic strength, the adamantine bear finally managed to throw Lightning off. She sailed through the air and hit a tree at the edge of the camp with terrible force. Then, clearly stunned by the impact, she slid to the ground and was still.

Mother let out an angry cry and she and father ran out from cover and fired shot after shot at the adamantine bear to try and draw it away from Lightning. But it was mad down to its boots now and had eyes only for Lightning. There was a crazed gleam in its eyes as it advanced on her, her sword still stuck in its back. Looking back at Lightning, I saw her begin to try and find her feet again, but there was a cut along her forehead and as the blood oozed down her face it was easy to see that she was still woozy.

The shots mother and father fired seemed to do nothing at all and choking back my panic, I raised my own gun. I fired twice and missed completely with both shots before I remembered Lightning's words. Steeling myself, I tried to make the act of aiming just like pointing and I forced as great a measure of calmness through my veins as I could. I fired and then again and again and again until the chambers of the pistol were spinning on empty.

All of the shots but one either sailed wide of the mark or struck the armoured plates of the adamantine bear. But one shot, somehow, found its mark. The bullet struck the adamantine bear at the edge of its left eye and it turned on me with an enraged roar. I froze instantly, scared out of my wits, and for that moment there was nothing – not my parents, not Lightning, nothing – and knew for sure that I was going to die.

Stupidly, my gaze swung from mother to father and then, as my feet continued to refuse to move, my eyes reached Lightning. As the adamantine bear charged, I saw a change sweep over her. It was incredible to see and for the first time I was certain that I was seeing Lightning as she truly was. Fury rose up in her, greater than anything I'd ever seen before, and with it came a surge of raw will that swept the dizziness aside and made all her injuries as nothing. Her eyes cleared, her legs steadied. She stood.

And the moment she stood, she moved, driven forward by the sheer, inexorable, inexhaustible strength of her own will. Blood poured down her face and into her eyes, but she didn't seem to care. With a face devoid of any emotion save for the almost overpowering rage in her arctic eyes, she hurled herself onto the adamantine bear's back and pulled her sword free. Almost at once, the bear arched again to throw her off, but she swung herself low and forward till she was in front of its exposed throat. She stabbed upward at once, her body forming an arch of her own as she threw every ounce of strength she had from the tips of her toes to the tips of her fingers into the single deadly blow.

The blade pierced right through the thinner scales about the adamantine bear's throat and it let out a hollow, broken sort of sound as it realised the damage it had taken. With a savage jerk, Lightning dragged her sabre to the side, widening the wound, and the adamantine bear gave a final, horribly wet gurgle before it crashed to the ground amidst a pool of its own blood.

At the same time, Lightning sagged and as mother and father rushed forward to help her, I was sure that she would fall. Yet as mother extended one hand to help, Lightning eyes blazed defiance and she lifted her chin proudly. Never would she take help, I thought, so long as there was even the smallest ounce of strength or will left within her. Almost like magic, she found her feet again, uplifted by that same tremendous force of will that had let her shrug her injury aside. She walked past me, proud and perfect even with the long crimson streak on her face and down the front of her shirt like a badge of honour.

"That was a good shot, Hope." She patted me gently on the head and I didn't care one bit that her hand was covered in blood. "It looks like you remembered what I taught you."

And then she turned back to my parents and there was a wry look on her features that were at last beginning to show some trace of the weariness and pain that would have long ago dropped anyone else to the ground. "You two did well tonight, as well. We should be fine for the rest of the night and by noon tomorrow we should be out of the hills and onto the plains." She looked over at the dead adamantine bear. "I'm not saying that plains will be free of trouble, but after tonight, I figure you folks can handle yourselves all right."

At that, mother and father laughed, and looking at Lightning, I laughed too. Here she was, bloody and bruised, and most likely heavily concussed, and she was making the closest thing to a joke I'd ever heard her make. Lightning herself didn't laugh, but her lips turned up just a little and there was the faintest twinkle in her eyes.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off of this.

I'll be honest. I had considered making them fight something from Final Fantasy, but I wanted something with a more Western feel to it. A bear seemed about right, but I wanted something a little more dangerous than a regular bear (remember, this story isn't actually set in the historical West, but rather in an AU similar to it) so I decided to go with a bear of my own creation. Really, I'm not sure what it says about my state of mind when the word "bear" conjures up something that is the better part of fifteen to eighteen feet tall and covered with metallic scales. I also have to admit that I quite liked writing the fight scene. Having Lightning killing stuff is always fun, especially since she is so very good at it.

As always, I welcome your feedback. Reviews and comments are appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

I didn't think that the open plains would stir that much awe in me, but I was wrong. It was one thing to see them from the slopes of the hill country, quite another to be right in the thick of all that lush green grass. After all that time in the dusty towns that marked the edge of civilisation followed by those longs weeks in the hill country, the open plains were quite the sight to see.

The grass was long and thick and soft beneath the wagon wheels and it stretched as far as I could see. There flowers everywhere too, in great splashes of colour. There were whites and yellows and blues and reds all mixed in with the emerald grass. The scent of all those flowers was sure something, sweet and pleasing to the nose. Mother let out a cry of joy and would have leapt out the wagon to take a closer look at all of them if she weren't so mindful of her manners. Even Lightning, reserved as always and still a little stiff from the injuries she'd taken, seemed to loosen up a little.

"How can all of this grow?" father asked. He was a curious man and always looked to find the way things worked.

Lightning didn't reply immediately. Rather, she slanted a look at mother whose cheeks were flushed and eyes sparkling as she eyed each new bed of flowers that we passed. "There are mountains west of here where several rivers start." Still speaking, she leaned over in the saddle to pluck up a handful of flowers by their stems. Slowing her pace, she handed them over to mother who beamed. "The rivers go all the way from the mountains and across these plains. They're what feed the whole place." She looked up at the clear blue sky. "It may not look it now, but it rains here too. Nothing we can't handle, but enough to help things along."

Father nodded and then got a sheepish look when he looked over to see mother with the flowers Lightning had gotten her. Mother raised one brow as if to ask why it was him who'd gotten them. He coughed nervously. "Seems like it'd be mighty good farming country out here."

"It would be," Lightning said. "But the land you've picked out West is even better, or so I've heard. Besides, every now and then it rains a great deal in the mountains, or else the summer gets too hot and melts some of the ice up there. When that happens, the rivers burst their banks and this whole place goes under water. True, it doesn't happen every year, but it happens just enough to make it a poor idea to farm out here."

"Seems like a shame," mother said. "Place like this could support a fair few people."

"Actually it already does," Lightning said.

Father frowned. "Who?"

"The Western Tribes." Lightning tipped her hat back a fraction and I saw her eyes, stern and serious, narrow slightly. "You've probably heard of them back east. They were here long before we turned up and I fancy they'll be here for some time yet. They're the natives around these parts."

"Are they going to give us trouble?" father asked.

Lightning shook her head. "Some tribes might give us trouble for troubles sake, but the tribe that claims most of the area around here is pretty reasonable. If we don't make any trouble for them and make it clear that we're just passing through and not looking to take what's theirs, then we should be okay."

Mother looked over at Lightning, her hands folded primly in her lap, the flowers tucked into her hair. "You've met them before?"

Lightning shrugged. "You could say that. The tribe out here is one I've had dealings with before. We've an understanding and so long as you stick close by and do as I say, I can't imagine they'll give us too much trouble."

My pulse quickened at the thought of the Western Tribes and I had to force my hands to stay steady on the reins for the chocobos. I'd heard all kinds of things about them back east. Some people said they hunted settlers down and ate them alive. Others said they kidnapped men and women and forced them to join their tribes. Others even said they were raising an army to drive us all out, which didn't sound too strange considering the war some years back. So just the thought of meeting some of them was both terrifying and exciting. It calmed me a little that Lightning seemed to know them and if she said they were decent folk, then I'd take her word over any rumours I'd heard.

We made good progress across the plains. The ground was flat and firm and the chocobos, all of them, seemed to delight in the chance to really give their legs a stretch. Even our stalwart black chocobos had to be forced to keep a steady pace. Lightning's chocobo was something else entirely. The graceful golden bird seemed to strain every moment against her for the chance to just take off at full speed.

"How fast is your chocobo?" I asked Lightning.

She tightened her hold on the reins and looked over at me. "Fast enough."

I grinned back at her. "That's not telling me too much. How fast is fast enough?"

For a long moment, she just looked at me, perhaps taken aback by my attempt at levity, but then a mischievous gleam came to her eye. Before I could say a word, she yanked me off the wagon and dragged me into the saddle in front of her.

"You'd best hold on, Hope," was all she said before she let loose a loud whoop.

The chocobo reared up and gave a joyful squawk and I had to grab on for dear life as the chocobo lunged forward and began to pick up speed. Its long stride ate up the ground, and with each powerful step, it picked up the pace. Suddenly, the wind was clawing at my eyes and tearing at my cheeks as the golden bird really began to pour on the speed. The world blurred past in a mess of green and I started to scream, convinced that I was about to die. It was then that I heard a low, soft chuckle come from behind me.

Lightning was laughing.

It took me a second to realise that she wasn't laughing at me. Rather she was laughing at the sheer joy of movement, at the chance to finally go as fast as she possibly could. Craning my head back, I saw the wind sweep her hat off and as she reached out to catch it with one hand, the wind pulled her hair free. It billowed out behind her, a curtain of pink that capture all the vivid wonder of the dawn breaking on the hill country. I stared until I realised I was staring and then I looked away, a blush across my cheeks.

Looking back at what was ahead, I screamed again when I saw that there was a stream ahead. But then, Lightning gave the chocobo a light slap across the flanks and the bird jumped. Its jump carried us over the stream like it was nothing and the bird gave a final exultant cry before Lightning began to rein back our speed.

"It's been a while," Lightning said slowly as she let me down. "Since I've done something like that." Her eyes shifted to the horizon so very far away. "Not since I raced Fang…" And then her eyes widened as she realised she'd spoken out loud and her mouth snapped shut.

Keen to keep the mood light, I smiled weakly up from where I was sprawled on the ground. It would be a while yet, I thought, till my legs were fit to stand on. "I can see why… I don't think I'll ever ride a chocobo again after that."

When mother and father finally drew up level with us, both of them gave Lightning what I'm sure they hoped was a stern look, but it was clear to me that they were tickled pink by the whole thing. Father especially seemed to find it funny.

"You've to teach young Hope how to ride like that," father said not long after when we stopped for lunch. "I figure that sort of riding might come real handy out West."

Lightning nodded. "There'll be a chance for that." She pointed back at her chocobo. "I found him out here, as a matter of fact. This time of year you'll find great flocks of them roaming the plains. They're loyal birds. You catch and bridle them and treat them right and they'll be yours for life." A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. "It's been a while, I guess, but if we come across any it'd be a good idea to break a few in. The mountains are tough so we could use a few extra to ease the load, and I could teach you all to ride properly."

Mother looked a little pale. "I'm sure that will be quite the adventure."

The rest of that that first day on the plains passed by pretty easily. Lightning had taken a position up front so that both mother and father could talk to her without yelling too loud. It didn't miss my notice though, that her watchfulness never decreased and that from where she was, she could see easily enough in all directions. Most of father's talk was about things like the weather and the geology of the plains and Lightning answered those questions as best she could. Mother asked a lot about the plants, not just what they were called, but also what they could be used for. To my surprise – but really, I should have known better than to doubt Lightning by now – Lightning seemed to know a fair bit about the plants. She seemed to have a use on hand for just about all of them.

"What's that one there?" mother asked as we passed through a small grove of flowers. They were all white with silver and gold along the edges of the petals. A clean, pure fragrance seemed to roll off them and as mother asked the question, Lightning leaned over and swept up a handful of the flowers and tucked them into her saddle roll.

"Grab a few of those, Nora," Lightning said. "They'll come in mighty handy if we run into trouble."

"Oh?" Mother had me hop off the wagon to grab a few bunches. "What do they do?"

Lightning picked up one flower and rolled the stem of it between her fingers. "They're called the Esuna Blossom. They're pretty hard to find, actually. We were lucky to pass through a grove of them. If you prepare the petals just right and mix them into boiling water you get a medicine that's good for just about any poison you're likely to encounter. It helps fight infection too, and if you've got any headaches or colds, or the like, then it can help with those, as well."

"That seems plenty useful," mother said. "Why haven't I heard of these back east?"

Lightning looked back at the flower in her hands. "The tribes are the only who really know how to prepare the petals properly. Besides, if everyone back east knew, I don't doubt that inside a year there wouldn't be a single blossom left. Most people aren't smart enough to just take what they need." She looked at the bunch of flowers I had. "What we've got should last us our whole trip and then some after I've prepared it."

I could tell that mother was thinking the same thing I was: how exactly did Lightning know the tribe out here if they'd taught her how to make some of their medicine. Still, we both knew better than to ask and so mother moved on.

"Are there any other things we can use out here?"

"There are other plants. There's a tree that I'll show you later if we come across it. If you boil the bark and mix in a few other things, you can make something to help speed up how quickly wounds heal."

"You sure know a lot about this stuff," I said and then, before I could stop myself, I added, "You must really know the tribes here quite well."

Mother gave me a sharp look and I felt like banging my head on the frame of the wagon. Not even a moment after I'd thought about how Lightning's past was her own and there I was asking about it.

"Like I said before, Hope, I've passed this way before." Lightning's voice wasn't cold, but there was a hint of warning there.

When night fell, we made camp in the shadow of a small hill. The wind was still plenty strong and the hill was placed just right to bear the worst of it. It was hot too, it being summer and all, but we'd chosen a spot close by to a stream so it wasn't too bad. Best of all, Lightning had taken a look at the stream and said that it was safe. That was mighty good news to me, because I'd been hankering after a full, proper bath for a while. I decided to grab one after dinner and passed the word on to my folks and Lightning. Lightning offered to stand guard while I bathed, but I still had my pride. Somehow, I managed to convince her that I would holler if there was trouble and it'd be just fine for her to listen in.

I shucked off my clothes and slipped into the water. The water was cool and I felt ten times better as I let myself sag up against the bank of the stream with a sigh. Really, I'd have stayed all night if I didn't think that the others would come looking for me. I washed well and when I was done, I decided to stay just a little longer to savour the cool. At that moment, the only thing wrong in the whole world was the bank of cloud that blotted out the moon and a good many of the stars.

There was a soft splash and I glanced over at the other side of the stream only to see something looking at me. It was hard to see without the moon to give me light, but I could make out two horns and a great, furry head. Large gold eyes met mine.

"Huh…" I backed away slowly, my eyes locked onto the… thing… on the opposite side of the stream. From the bushes around it, several more of the things emerged and I scrambled out of the water. I managed to get about three steps, before I tripped on a loose clod of earth and toppled to the ground with a cry.

Instantly, Lightning was there, pistol ready. "Hope what's wrong?" I pointed over at the opposite side of the stream as mother and father came running over, as well.

"There was something there…" I shivered. "Look, there they are!"

And at that very moment, the clouds parted just enough to let the moon shine on the creatures that had scared me something awful. I groaned and wished that the earth could swallow me whole. They weren't monsters at all. They were bison. Sure, they were large and had horns, but they were all but harmless unless you really pushed them to it. They didn't even eat meat.

"Those are bison," Lightning stated calmly.

"Um…"

"Hope!" Mother interrupted me before I could say anything else and her hands flew to her mouth in shock. "Where are your clothes?"

My eyes widened. In my mad dash up the bank of stream, I'd all but forgotten about my clothes. The breeze rustled past and I felt a sudden chill, a chill that only grew as I spied my clothes in a pile not fifteen feet away. Stammering apologies, I did my best to get to my clothes without making things any more embarrassing. My attempts to preserve what little dignity I still had, failed miserably when I slipped and toppled to the ground. Unable to control themselves any more, mother and father burst out laughing and just to add insult to injury, I heard what sounded like guffaws come from several of the bison.

"Here." I looked up and Lightning was there with my clothes in hand. "Put these on."

I groaned. "Thanks."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

Here, we get to the next part of their journey. The open plains might seem safer than the hills, but don't worry, there are dangers about and it's only a matter of time before the Estheims and Lightning run into them. As for Lightning, I've added a few more hints about her past. The whole bit with Hope at the end was also fun to write, especially since I've always felt that he had a knack for finding trouble.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

We made pretty good time across the plains over the next few days. Personally, I found it hard to just sit back in the wagons, what with all the new things there were to see. For instance, it was only the day after my first encounter with some bison that I finally got to see a real herd of them.

We'd just crested a small rise when I felt the ground begin to shake. At first I thought it was an earthquake, and from the looks on mother and father's faces, I knew they thought the same. But Lightning stayed calm and simply beckoned for us to look over the crest. I saw them then. There was a huge line of bison stretching for almost three miles. There must have been thousands of them and it was the thunder of their passage that had made the ground shake so much.

"They don't like it when it gets too hot. About this time, they usually head down south where things are cooler," Lightning explained. "They like taking the plains south because with all the grass around they don't have to worry about food."

As I nodded, I saw flashes of green amongst the brown of the bison. I squinted harder and could just make out some lithe reptilian shapes. They were like big lizards and they snapped and clawed at the bison at the edges of the herd and especially at those near the back, which were mostly the older and weaker ones, or the ones that were a little bit sick.

Lightning followed my gaze and answered my unspoken question. "Out here we call those things 'snappers'. They grow to be about as big as an average man and it takes a whole group of them to bring down a bison, even an old one. They shouldn't give us too much trouble. Fact is, they like to follow the herd south until its too cold for them, picking off the weak as they go along."

As the bison disappeared amidst a cloud of dust, I was struck again by just how awesome and majestic the great wide land before me was.

The nights were pleasant too, as mother and father had taken to talking to Lightning about their plans out West. Before they'd done it more to pass the time, but now they were seriously considering Lightning's counsel that she gave in her usual clipped fashion. I was glad too that Lightning seemed to take care not to let me get too isolated during these talks. She made sure that I could a word in edgewise and humoured all my questions about guns and living out on the trail. As long as I was mindful not to ask about her past, she was plenty accommodating of a kid's curiosity about hard living.

She kept on with her lessons about guns, as well, and she even managed to convinced father to let me try the shotgun out. I have to admit, I was pretty thrilled, but the thrill lasted just as long as it took for the recoil to all but throw me to the ground. It would probably be for the best if I waited a few years and added some more muscles before I gave the shotgun another go. Lightning, though, handled the gun like she was made for it, and I watched intently as she taught father a thing or two to help him with his shooting.

On the fifth day out on the plains, we pulled up just short of a small lake and Lightning waved me over.

"Why'd we stop?" I asked.

She pointed over to the edge of the lake. "Look there."

I nodded and peered over. Then I gasped. There was a small flock of chocobos over by the edge of the lake. They were all a muddy sort of brown and had a lean, rugged look to them that made me certain they'd not had much contact with people, if any at all. There were a few young ones, not even up to my knees, actually, but there were some others, a little ways away, that were fully-grown with a proud look about them.

"Those are the young males," Lightning said. "They're tough, but they'd be handy to have if we could get them."

Anticipation surged through me. "Are we?" I asked. "I mean… are we going to get them?"

Lightning nodded. "It's about time you and your folks learned how to ride a chocobo properly rather than just having them pull those wagons of yours."

"What do I do?" I asked.

Lightning patted the ground beside her. "Nothing, for now. Just stay here and watch."

I knelt down there behind the bush and it wasn't long before mother and father joined me. Lightning slunk over toward the flock of chocobos. She was low to the ground and mighty quiet as she crept closer. It occurred to me, as the wind blew, that she was downwind of them too. Once, one of the females with a couple of chicks stopped and looked around, but Lightning hid herself in the long grass and waited a few moments.

Finally, she reached the closest of the young males and with a sudden leap, she was on its back. The chocobo let loose an awful screech and bucked wildly as it clawed at the ground and tossed its back every which way. But Lightning was ready for it, and as she clung tightly to its back, she drew a rope from around her waist and threw it about the chocobo's front to make a crude set of reins. The chocobo crowed louder and grew even more frantic and Lightning whipped a handkerchief from her pocket and slung it over the chocobo's eyes.

The chocobo quietened almost the moment its eyes were covered and I saw her lean over to whisper gently into its ear as she stroked down along it neck and flanks. Slowly, she drew the handkerchief off and the chocobo gave another screech. But she tightened her hold around it with her improvised reins and whispered again as she pulled the handkerchief back over its eyes. Twice more she repeated this until finally, the chocobo only cawed softly when the handkerchief was pulled away. Tall and still, the chocobo seemed to be waiting for her next command.

With the danger passed, I released a breath I hadn't even known I was holding and looked around. In the midst of all the ruckus, the other chocobos had fled and I thought I saw a couple of them moving off to the south. Mother and father moved out from behind the bush, and so did I, but Lightning waved for us to keep back.

"Keep back a moment, let me bring him under control a bit." With that she hopped off the chocobo's back. "Hand me the spare saddle, Hope, and bring some reins and a bridle."

I hurried back to the wagons and came back with the things she needed. I handed them over to her and then stepped back again.

"Watch," Lightning said. And then she was slipping the saddle and bridle and reins over the chocobo. The bird startled badly when it first felt the touch of the unfamiliar leather, but Lightning was talking to it, all soft and gentle, to soothe it. Her hand dipped to a pouch at her side and she offered the chocobo some plant she'd picked up earlier in the day.

"It's quite sweet," Lightning explained as the chocobo dipped it head to snatch up the plant. "Chocobos like sweet things. I picked up a few just for this and I'll pick up more when I've the time."

With the chocobo calmer, Lightning led him over my folks and me. "I need all of you to come over here so he can get used to you all." She waited for the chocobo to get accustomed to the sight of us. "Hold out your hands real slow and let him get a smell of you. Once he knows we're all together, he'll treat you just fine."

All of us held out our hands one by one and the chocobo leant forward cautiously. He cawed softly and my mother flinched. Still, he didn't peck and it wasn't long before he was rubbing his head against our hands, eager for a pet. It was quite a change, and I wasn't too surprised to find mother taking some of the sugary plants from Lightning to give to the chocobo. Mother quite liked animals, at least once she knew they were friendly.

"You going to be teaching Hope how to ride this one?" father asked.

Lightning shook her head. "Not just yet. This one here hasn't had a rider yet, so it'll be best for me to spend the next few days breaking him in. In the meantime, I'll see about those lessons for Hope on my chocobo. He's friendlier and used to riders. After that, I'll see if I can't give you and Nora some less too, Bart."

Father flushed a little. "I guess some lessons wouldn't be too bad." He looked over to the south. "Pity about the others though."

Lightning shrugged. "We'll find some more easily enough and there's no point in going after any with chicks."

The next few days were a funny time. Lightning spent all her time on the new chocobo who, for want of a better name, we'd taken to calling Brownie. Lightning's own golden-feathered chocobo, who I finally learned was called Velo, looked almost offended that Lightning was riding another chocobo. It wasn't until Lightning started me in on learning to ride him that the proud chocobo calmed down a little.

My first lesson on Velo was an awkward one and it started just before we set out for another day's travel. Lightning called me over to where she had Velo tethered and got straight to the point.

"You about ready to learn how ride a chocobo, Hope?"

Doing my best not to look scared out of my wits, I nodded. "Sure. I mean I guess I'm ready."

She nodded. "Well listen close then. The first thing you have to do is to approach the chocobo properly." She pushed me forward. "Walk up to him nice and easy. Don't go in too fast, at least not until he's used to you or he'll startle and then you'll end up getting kicked in the face." Her voice was soft and calm and gave me the courage to go forward. "Hold your hand up, palm up and just below his beak. He'll want to smell you first. Let him do it." Velo's beak came up to my palm and I tensed for a moment, but the golden chocobo's touch was gentle.

"Good, Hope," Lightning said. "Give him a pat on the head and say his name. Let him know you're friendly. Don't worry too much about the words. It's the tone he'll listen for."

I swallowed and reached forward to lay one shaking hand on Velo's head. "Um… hi there. I'm Hope. Er… I hope we can get along."

It sounded stupid, but Velo seemed to take it well enough, because he stayed right still as Lightning led me over to where the stirrups were. With a bit of help, I managed to get myself up into the saddle and I took a moment to steady myself. I hadn't realised just how high up it was on the back of a chocobo, and I had to fight back a sudden surge of vertigo.

"Good. Now, Hope, straighten up a little." Lightning had me sit up straight in the saddle as she talked me through a few things. I did my best to listen, but it was hard. Riding on top of a chocobo wasn't anything like riding in a wagon being pulled by one. It was incredible. I could feel each breath Velo took, each movement he made as he shifted to accommodate my weight on his back.

"Now, Hope, did you get everything I said?"

Nodding dumbly, I tried to remember everything she'd said. Keep a firm hold on the reins. Use my hips as well as the reins to steer. Tap Velo gently with my ankles to get going and harder to go faster. Keep lose and easy in the saddle and don't lock up or else I'd fall. There were other things, but it was a lot to take in and I didn't think I'd remembered even half of it.

"I guess so," I said.

Lightning nodded. "Good. Then get going."

Taking a deep breath, I nudged Velo with my heels. To my consternation, the chocobo just stood there, pawing gently at the ground.

"A little harder than that, Hope."

So I tried again, but with a little more strength behind it. There was a split-second when I wondered if I hadn't done it wrong before Velo jerked forward. It was lucky that instinct made me tighten my hold on the reins, otherwise I'd have fallen right there and then, but somehow I managed to stay in the saddle as Velo started off at a slow trot.

After a few seconds of panic, I managed to calm down and feeling of going along was actually quite nice. Velo's stride was sure and precise and I felt a little braver and tapped my heels against him once again. The slow trot became a canter and I let out a loud whoop of joy at the feeling of it all.

That turned out to be a mistake.

Beneath me, I felt Velo's muscles bunch and then we were suddenly going at a gallop. All I could do was cling on for all I was worth as I tried to remember what Lighting had told me to do if I wanted to slow down. Finally, I remembered what she'd said. I eased back on the reins and rubbed his neck gently until he finally slowed back into a trot. After that, I turned in a slow, wide arc and headed back toward Lightning.

She glanced from Velo, who wore what I was sure was the chocobo equivalent of a silly grin, to me. "That wasn't too shabby, Hope."

I nodded and practically fell off Velo. I was a little sore from the short ride, something I hadn't expected. At the same time, I was certain that if Velo hadn't been so used to having a rider and taking commands, then I probably would have ended up on the ground the moment he started to gallop. I had a lot to learn, but really, it was something I was looking forward to.

"Think I'm ready to ride Brownie yet?" I joked as Lightning helped me back to my feet.

Lightning looked at me seriously. "Not just yet, Hope."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making a dime off this.

This chapter was another one that I had a lot of fun writing. The thought of Hope learning to ride a chocobo has always been one that I found quite funny. I also wanted to introduce some more Western elements into the story and breaking in a horse (or in this case, a chocobo) is something that I just had to work in. As for the name of Lightning chocobo, Velo is indeed a contraction of Velocycle (for obvious reasons, I can't have her riding one of _those_).

As always I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

We quickly settled into a new routine out on the plains. Each morning, I'd help mother and father get the wagons ready for the day's journey, but then, rather than ride on a wagon alongside mother, I'd saddle up Velo and tag along behind Lightning. It was a little dicey at first, but Velo warmed to me pretty quickly. A few sugary treats courtesy of Lightning also helped my cause. As for Lightning, she rode Brownie and although the new chocobo was a mite peevish for a few days, it wasn't even a week before he settled in. If anything, he settled in a little too well. Come feeding time, if one of us didn't keep an eye on him, he'd find his way to a good portion of the food meant for the other chocobos. That didn't endear him too much to the others, and while the black chocobos that pulled our wagons weren't as fast as Brownie, they were a fair bit taller and stouter of build.

One morning, as we rode parallel to a great herd of bison, which Lightning said was safe so long as we made sure not to get too close, I heard her and my folks talking about the journey ahead.

"How much longer do you think it'll take?" father asked.

Lightning shifted slightly in the saddle. "I figure we might have maybe another fortnight on the plains if the weather stays good. After that, we'll be in the foothills for another fortnight or so and then it's another month, maybe a month and half of hard travel through the mountains. Once we're past the mountains, we'll be on the steppe and if your land is where you say it is, then it should be another week and half before we get there."

Father whistled. "That sounds like a fair amount of travelling."

"It is, but I guess that's why your hired me." Lightning peered into the distance.

"Something the matter, Lightning?" father asked.

Lightning stared a little longer, at what I couldn't tell, and then she shook her head. "No. I thought I might have seen something, but it looks like its nothing."

Mother chuckled. "You're getting restless, Lightning. We've avoided trouble for a while now."

Lightning shrugged. "The way I see it, it's better to be wary and have it all come to nothing than be caught off guard when trouble comes calling."

Those were definitely sentiments that I could agree with and I gave Velo a little push with my heels to speed him up. I'd fallen a little bit behind from watching the bison push and shove amongst themselves and while Lightning had said that snappers wouldn't give us trouble, there were a couple of them eyeing me pretty closely. I suppose a boy on a chocobo must've looked pretty tempting, especially when compared to a full-grown bison.

A full week passed before we ran into any real trouble. That trouble came in the form of clouds on the horizon, only they didn't look like any clouds I'd seen before. They were too thick and rather than the wispy white ones that sometimes trailed across the sky, or the darker grey clouds that signalled rain, these clouds were thick black. What was more, they seemed to cling a little too closely to the ground.

"Stay sharp," Lightning said. "Those aren't clouds – that's smoke. Something must be burning up ahead."

"You think it's a brush fire or something?" father asked.

Lightning frowned and shook her head. "It's the wrong time of year for that sort of thing. Besides, it hasn't been quite that hot, and there's been no lightning to start off a blaze. I think it's something else."

What exactly that something else was, Lightning didn't say, but after a few hours I realised that we were no longer travelling quite straight. Instead we going in a broad arc around what I guessed was the source of all the smoke.

I pulled up alongside her. Brownie nudged Velo and I had to pull away a fraction before the two got to fighting again. "Why are we taking the long way around?" I asked.

A veiled sort of look crossed Lightning's face before she spoke up loudly enough for both my parents to here. "There are a few tribes out this way. Normally, they'd be no trouble, but every so often they get to warring with one another. When that's happening, it's best to stay well clear of them."

"So that's what the smoke is then?" I frowned. "Do they do that often?" As much as I wanted to stay well clear of any trouble, I was awfully curious. I'd heard that the tribes used all kinds of weapons, things like spears and bows and arrows. A few of them were even supposed to use guns, which I supposed was possible, given that settlers did trade with them now and then and it wasn't too far fetched that maybe the tribes might ask for weapons.

"Not too often," Lightning replied. "But from what I know, when they get to warring with each other, they don't do it halfway."

We passed the rest of that day and the night that followed in a sort of wary tension. But no trouble came and when we set off the next morning, the smoke was gone. Lightning seemed to relax a little at that, but even so, rather than have me ride on Velo as I'd gotten used to, she tethered Brownie to one of the wagons and made me ride up alongside mother on one of the wagons while she rode Velo herself. It was a precaution, I figured, in case there was trouble. Brownie was becoming pretty dependable, but Velo was still the chocobo she would be best on if there was anything that needed dealing with.

Around noon, Lightning had us stop. I hopped off the wagon and ambled over to where she was talking pretty intently with father.

"What's the hold up?" I heard father ask.

"Look over there." Lightning pointed ahead to where the land dipped into a shallow valley. Squinting, I could just make out what looked to be a pair of wagons stopped by a small cluster of rocks. "You got a spyglass with you, Bart?"

Father went back into his wagon and came back with a spyglass. He trained it on the wagons up ahead and after a few moments, he handed it over to Lightning.

"What do you think?" Lightning asked.

Father was a little taken aback. I imagine that he'd expected Lightning to give her opinion first. "It looks like the wagon up front has busted an axle or something. They seem to be looking pretty closely at it." He slanted a look at Lightning. "Think we should give them a miss?"

Lightning pursed her lips. "I can't say for certain if they're trouble or not. It's the best time of the year to make the trip, so they could be travellers just like us who ran into a spell of trouble. Still, if we head on down there, we should keep our guns close and wits about." She looked back at father. "It's your call, Bart."

Father took a few seconds to make up his mind and then nodded firmly. "I think we ought to take a look. If they are trouble, then at least we'll be ready. And if they're just in a spot of bother then it'd be a shame to leave them be without giving them a hand. I know I'd hate it if we ran into trouble and someone else just marched on by."

"You're a good man, Bart," Lightning said and then added quietly, so quietly that I didn't think she really meant anyone else to hear it, "Let's hope that those fellows down there are good men too."

We made it down to where the other wagons were easily enough and as father and Lightning stopped to talk to the men out front, I hopped down to take a look around.

"You look to be in quite a fix, it seems," father said in a friendly way.

One of the men, rugged looking, with the weathered features common to people who'd made a life out West, gave a quiet chuckle. "You've got it right there, friend. We saw the smoke yesterday and decided it might be best to skirt around it, but we broke an axle just a couple of hours ago." He chuckled again. "Still, we're lucky you turned up. We could use a hand getting our axle fixed and if it's money you're worried about, I can pay you for your trouble."

Father laughed. "You can keep your money. I figure that the least folks like us can do is help each other out. By the way, which way are you headed?"

"We've got a place out West." The other man rapped the side of his wagon with one hand. "We were just heading back there after picking up some supplies back east."

"Don't worry, we'll have you up and running in no time."

As father and Lightning began to look over the damage with the other men, I walked over to the wagon just behind. It seemed well enough and though the writing on the side was pretty badly faded, I could make out the word 'supplies' so it seemed like their story checked out. Certainly, there wasn't much doubt, just from looking at it, that the wagon out front had broken an axle. Most likely, they'd loaded up the wagon a little too much and taken the hill a little fast. That was the reason father always made sure to take things slow and steady rather than just rush ahead.

As I passed the back flap of the wagon, I heard a muffled sort of banging. I stopped and stared. Did these folks have a cat or dog or something back there? Looking back to make sure that the lot of them were still out front looking at the broken axle, I crept over to the strap that held the back flap of the wagon shut and worked it open. It had been a while since I'd seen a cat or a dog that wasn't looking to make trouble for me, and I figured that the strangers wouldn't mind too much if I spent a few minutes with theirs.

Only when the flap swung open it wasn't a cat or a dog in the back of the wagon. It was a person. She was dressed in some funny looking clothing, a kind of orange-pink dress, and she had a couple of necklaces of beads around her neck. Her hair was somewhere between orange and red and her eyes were a bright green. She was pretty young too, somewhere between my age and Lightning's. Strangest of all though, she was tied up good and proper. There were thick ropes around her arms and body, and more around her legs. There was even a gag in her mouth and the banging sound I'd heard was her kicking up against the side of the wagon. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw me, and she shouted into the gag. Not quite sure what to make of things – what was she doing back there? – I took a slow step back.

Just then, one of the strangers looked back from the front wagon at me.

Before I knew it, he was there beside me. "What are you doing, kid?" Then he looked over at the open wagon flap where the young woman was still shouting into her gag and doing her best to free herself. I tried to get away, but he clamped one big hand over my shoulder and yanked me back. When I opened my mouth to yell, he shoved his hand over my mouth and reached down to his waist for his gun. "Pity you saw her, kid. Me and my friends would have been just fine letting you and your folks go on your way. Seems we can't do that anymore."

He eased the hammer of his gun back and it was the loudest sound I'd ever heard.

He never got the chance to fire.

There was a bang and suddenly he hurtled back. A cloud of red filled my vision and I realised that somehow he'd been shot. My eyes flashed forward to where Lightning was and I saw that she'd already turned and fired twice more, her second and third shots nailing the other two men even as they reached for their own weapons. Rather than shoot the last man, Lightning dropped him with a left hook. He hit the ground and Lightning kicked his gun out of his hands before she dug two solid kicks into his gut to make sure he wouldn't give us more trouble.

"Keep a gun on him, Bart!" Lightning ordered and I saw my father nod slowly, his gun not even halfway from its holster. "I'll go see just what it is those men have back there that they would've killed Hope for seeing."

Lightning took a moment to make sure that I was okay before she moved past me and peered into the back of the wagon.

"Vanille?" she gasped. "What are you doing here?" And quick as a flash, she took a knife from her belt and cut the ropes off.

"Lightning!" Vanille wailed as she all but threw herself at Lightning.

What followed was quite a sight. Lightning was her usual self, all quiet and stoic, but it must've been hard for her to stay like that, what with Vanille sobbing into her shoulder and looking for some comfort. In the end, Lightning sort of settled her arms around Vanille in an awkward embrace. It was clear to me that the two knew each other and I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking questions. Finally, Vanille seemed to calm down some and Lightning finally managed to ease her away.

"Stay here with Hope, Vanille." Lightning's eyes darkened in a way that I'd come to learn promised violence. Already, I could see that energy inside her fighting to be let free again, as though dropping three men in as many seconds were not enough. "I've got a man to speak to."

As Lightning stalked over to where father still had the other man in his sights, Vanille came over to sit beside me

"You're Hope, right?"

I nodded. "Lightning called you Vanille, didn't she?" I paused uncertainly. "So… um… what were you going in the back of that wagon?"

"I'll tell you, but first…" And before I knew it, Vanille had lunged forward and pulled me into a hug. I tried not to blush, but it was hard. She was soft and warm and smelled really nice and as she pulled away, she even gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for finding me back there, Hope. I'd have been in some real trouble if you hadn't."

I looked away. "I didn't do much. Way I see it, Lightning did the real work."

She giggled. "You did your part." Smiling, she took my hand in hers, shaking it in a strange version of a handshake. "I guess I should introduce myself properly. I'm Oerba Dia Vanille." At my curious look, she smiled again. "Hmmm… now that I think about it, my name must sound kind of funny. It means that I'm Vanille from the Dia tribe in the land of Oerba."

I gaped. "You're from one of the Western Tribes?"

Vanille made a face. "That's what your people call us, but really, we're all over the place, not just the West."

Vanille would have said more but her eyes had gone over to where Lightning was talking to the last of the men. Although talking was a poor phrase for how things were going. Lightning would bark a question and the man would shake his head and growl and then she would hit him. And she wasn't hitting him gently either. No, Lightning had a mean left hook and each blow snapped the man's head to the side and there was no small amount of blood on the knuckles of her gloves when she finally pulled back.

Keen to take Vanille's eyes off the less than civilised sight, I asked a question. "Those men kidnap you or something?"

Vanille nodded. "I'm the healer in my tribe. Those men wanted me to work for them and when I said no, they came back during the night. They rode in shooting and setting fires. They tied me up, threw me in the back of their wagon, and hurt anyone who tried to stop them. I think, maybe they might even have killed a few people." She growled. "At least Lightning got them."

"How do you know Lightning anyway?" I was curious now, given that Lightning was too occupied to keep me from asking questions and Vanille seemed to know a bit.

She glanced carefully at me. "You seem awful curious about her."

I nodded eagerly. "She's my family's guide out West. We've got land out there. I guess… I guess I kind of want to know what made her how she is now. I mean she's already saved me and my folks a couple of times already."

For a long time, Vanille just looked at me before she finally nodded. "I can't tell you too much. I know her well enough to know she'd not like that. The first time she came through here was a long time ago. After that she came back a few times, even helped my tribe sort out some problems we had. That's when I taught her a few things. Then the war came…" Vanille's voice grew softer and her gaze went to the ground. "We Dia were pretty lucky during the war. We had a bit of fighting up here, but almost all of it was south a fair way. Still… I saw Lightning a couple of times during the war and it changed her, changed her more than just fighting would. After the war I only saw her once again, but she was like she is now, all cold inside, all broken. Actually, this is the first I've seen of her since then."

I nodded. That was more information than I'd hoped to get, much more. Still, the bit about the war puzzled me. From what I knew, the fighting back then hadn't been too fierce, just a few skirmishes over land before the government got a treaty signed with the tribes. Looking back ahead, I saw Lightning beckoning for Vanille to come over.

"Vanille, you want me to kill this man?" Lightning asked simply.

Father's eyes widened. "There are courts for this kind of –"

Lightning's gaze was diamond sharp. "Courts? We both know that the courts don't think much of the tribes. Besides, a courts too far away and I'll not bring scum like this with us, not when we all know he's guilty." Her hands clenched. "Besides, you heard what they were going to do with Vanille – it wasn't just work they planned for her, at least not any kind she'd ever agree to."

The man tried to plead for his life, but Vanille met Lightning's eyes and then looked away.

Lightning nodded and without even looking, nailed the man in the head with a single shot. He slumped to the ground. "Saddle up, Bart. We'll move on to the next rise and get a fire started. Vanille can send her people word that we've got her and that she's safe." When father moved toward the bodies, Lighting stopped him with a sharp look. "Leave them, Bart. It's what they deserve."

As Lightning strode away, I looked at Vanille. My fists were clenched. "Why'd let her to kill him?"

She tilted her head to one side. "If you knew what my tribe would do to him if they caught him, then you'd know that just shooting him was a mercy."

I couldn't help shivering at that. However, that still left the matter of what was in the wagons and the chocobos hitched to them. "What are we going to do about the wagons and the chocobos?"

Lightning shouted over her shoulder as she climbed back onto Velo. "Leave them. Vanille's tribe will find them and it's only right they get some compensation for all the trouble those men caused."

With a last glance back at the bodies, I climbed back onto the wagon beside mother. Vanille hopped up beside me and we got going again, much quieter than before.

When we reached the next rise, we stopped the wagons and got a fire started. I watched with interest as Vanille reached into one of the pouches at her waist and threw something into the fire. Instantly, the smoke darkened and with a piece of cloth she'd borrowed from mother, she began to either block the smoke or let it rise up in a tall, stout column.

"What are you doing?" I asked, eager to take my mind off things.

"I'm signalling my tribe," Vanille explained. "Depending on what colour the smoke is and how I break up the column, I can send different messages. Right now, I'm telling them where I am and that I'm with friends." She grinned. "I wouldn't want to get you into any trouble." She tugged me over. "Come on, I have to send the message a couple of times just to be sure. I'll explain as I go along."

I passed the afternoon there beside Vanille as she sent her message. After she'd sent it a couple more times, she started to talk to me about what some of the plants and herbs in the pouches around her waist did. She said it was the least she could do after I'd found her. In the background, I could hear mother and father arguing with Lightning. Mother seemed more shocked and maybe a little bit scared, but father was mighty angry. But Lightning eyes were icy and there was a tightness to her expression that made it clear that she would have none of it.

I guess I could see things from Lightning's point of view. Father wouldn't have wanted those men killed, even if they'd have likely killed us in a heartbeat, or worse. He just wasn't the sort of man to want to see someone else dead. But the thought of what 'worse' probably entailed made me cold right down to my bones. I'd heard what some men did to women they got their hands on and the thought that they might have done something to mother or Vanille filled me with fury. Certainly, if what I'd heard Lightning say before was any guide that wasn't too far off the mark. The part of me that understood these things was definitely glad that Lightning had dealt with those men most permanently.

It was around dusk when some people from Vanille's tribe came. They seemed to just appear out of nowhere from the long grass around us, but Lightning seemed to expect them, because she didn't look the least bit startled. They were dressed in much looser clothing that I was used to seeing, much of it in bright shades of blue, or green, or red. They bowed to Lightning and then ran over to Vanille. They spoke quickly in a language I couldn't understand and Vanille gestured animatedly at me. It wasn't long then, before one of them came over to me and bowed before offering me a spear.

Vanille grinned. "It's a sign of gratitude, Hope. It means you're a friend of the tribe. Take it."

I took the spear, which was a little too heavy for my liking. "How come you can speak my language while the others can't?"

"I learned some from one of the elders who travelled east. Then, when Lightning came through, she taught me some more. Apart from that, I learned a lot from a friend of mine named Fang. She's from another tribe, but she's been all sorts of places, even if she does spend a lot of time helping my tribe out."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lightning stiffen at the mention of Fang. "Where is Fang now?" I asked.

Vanille's smile faded. "Away." And from the sad look on her face, I could tell that was all she would say about the matter.

The tribe stayed a bit longer and as a reward for our help with getting Vanille back, they offered us some extra supplies as well as another chocobo, a young female that was a lovely tawny sort of colour. After that, they made to leave, but not before Vanille marched up to Lightning. A stormy look came over Lightning face as she and Vanille talked in the tribe's language. When Vanille mentioned Fang, Lightning turned and would have walked away were it not for Vanille throwing her arms around her and holding her in place.

The tension was easy to see in Lightning frame and I had a feeling that if it were anyone else but Vanille holding her, Lightning would have responded with force. Finally, Vanille let her go, but it was clear to me that whoever this Fang person was, she and Lightning had unfinished business.

Putting a smile on her face, Vanille turned to my folks and me. "Good bye all of you. Take care and come and visit us some day." She smirked. "Don't worry too much about the other tribes. We'll send word along to let them know that you guys are friendly!"

I grinned. "Thanks for that, Vanille! Take care too."

After they were gone, Lightning came up to me. Most of the tension that had built up in her at the mention of Fang seemed to have drained out of her. "You've got a nose for trouble, Hope, but you did well today."

Praise from Lightning was something special indeed and I positively beamed. "Thanks, Lightning."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off this.

So, here we finally have another one of the main characters from the game being introduced. I think that from the moment I brought in the Western Tribes, I was always going to bring in either Vanille or Fang. I chose Vanille because I felt she suited the story better, in so far as she let me keep Lightning's past mysterious while also giving a bit more information about it. The fact that Hope cannot understand what Vanille is saying to Lightning (because they are talking in the tribe's language) is quite deliberate. He wants to understand Lightning, but he is constrained by the fact that he's working with incomplete information.

If you're wondering about what the war was, rest assured you'll get more information about it later.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The first few days after we rescued Vanille were mighty awkward. The easy comfort that had been there between Lightning and my folks was gone now and I didn't know if it would ever come back. They still trusted her, but it was almost like they were seeing her for the first time. Sure they'd seen her kill those hill cats and even that big adamantine bear, but it was different seeing her kill another person. That wasn't to say that I wasn't shaken by just how easily she'd killed those men, but I was plenty grateful too. Chances were that if she'd been even a second slower, I'd be dead. Sometimes though, when I wasn't watching what I thought about, I'd see her hitting that guy again, her fist knocking his head to the side before she put a bullet in his head as easy as could be.

And Lightning had changed, as well. The warmth she'd gained over the course of the journey seemed to bleed away until she was once again cold and remote. If anything, she was even more withdrawn than when we'd started the journey. There was a bitterness in her expression when she looked she looked at us now, one that emerged only for the briefest of moments when I was certain that she didn't think we were looking. I couldn't say for sure what she was thinking, but I wouldn't have been surprised if she were thinking about the fact that she'd only ever killed to protect us and Vanille and yet we still couldn't look at her the same anymore. It wasn't fair, not really, but it was a hard thing to do, to try and get past how easily, how very naturally, she'd put those men down.

As for the other chocobo we were given, she was already fit for riding. We didn't know her name – she'd belonged to Vanille's kidnappers – but I'd taken to calling her Sunny, because of the way her tawny feathers kind of glinted gold when the sun hit them just right. Most times, she was happy enough just to plod along behind us, tame as could be, and Lightning was fine with me riding her every other day instead of Velo.

Every now and then when we stopped, I saw Lighting stalk off a ways from us and stare off into the distance. As far as I could tell, she wasn't staring at anything in particular. Instead, she seemed lost in thought and her mouth would curl into a sad and bitter smile that never reached her eyes. Sometimes, she even told us to stay put while she took Velo and went ahead to scout the area. Only, I got the feeling that she didn't need to scout the area, so much as spend some time alone. More than once I got up to follow her, but when I saw the tightness in her jaw and the almost desperate glint in her eyes, my courage always failed me and I stayed behind.

Finally, as we started getting close to the foothills, an awkward sort of peace was made between my folks and Lightning. They hadn't talked things over, but I think they all realised that we wouldn't make it through without each other. And so my folks and Lightning got to talking again, but it wasn't the same as before. My folks were reserved and Lightning even more so, but it was a great deal better than the almost icy silence that had come before. And it was a good thing too, I thought once we hit the foothills.

The hills we'd passed through before the plains were tough, but the foothills were even worse. There was almost nothing growing on their slopes except for low-slung bushes of some hardy weed that I didn't know the name of. There were large boulders all over and the earth was loose and gravelly. Worse still, as we began to really make inroads into the foothills it became pretty clear that the rivers had really done so damage to the place.

The rivers rushed down from the mountains in great gushing streams of water that cut huge gouges into the hills. And that was no laughing matter either, because the hills were made of some tough rock, maybe granite, and the gouges were deep, some hundreds of feet below the level of everything else. It must have taken hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Elsewhere, the water had torn the support out from the places where the hills met and more than once we had no choice but to pass over thin arches of water worn rock that looked like they could barely hold their own weight, let alone ours.

But worst of all was the wind. It had died down some on the plains but up in the foothills it was an almost living thing. It howled down from the mountains, screaming as it surged along the water filled canyons and then, carried up along their banks, broke in great rolling waves of sound across the rough path we travelled. It was a terrifying thing to listen to, high-pitched and eerily similar to screaming at times.

By the time we finally called a stop to things on that first day in the foothills, my folks and I were exhausted. Lightning led us to a solid-looking overhang and we formed the wagons into a wall to shield us from the worst of the wind and cold. We started a fire, which was no easy task with things so windy, and cooked dinner. It was good food, but the awkwardness around the campfire made it taste something awful. Still, Lightning had a few things she wanted to say and she pushed right through the uneasiness to say them.

"The foothills are dangerous. You need to stay alert." She had to raise her voice to be heard over the wind. "The wind will wear you down, but just one false step here and you'll end up in a canyon river or causing a landslide." She waited for us all to nod dutifully before she continued. "Keep an eye out for the wildlife too."

A nervous look crossed my father's face. The wildlife we'd encountered so far hadn't all been exactly friendly. "What do you mean by wildlife?"

"There are big snakes out here, same colour as the rocks. They feed on the mountain goats and hill cats that make their living here and anything else they can catch. There are also some wild chocobos, but they'll probably keep out of our way." She paused, and her eyes seemed distant for a second. "There are some tribes here too, but I doubt they'll give us much trouble."

Father swallowed slowly. "I see. Those snakes you mentioned. You said they were big. How big is big?"

Lightning's lips thinned. "Big." And she drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes and when they opened, her gaze was as open as I'd ever seen it and really earnest too. "Look, I know you've all got your problems with me and I can understand that, but there's something I need to lay clear right now." Her hands were clenched tight in her lap. "You don't ever have to worry about my turning a gun on one of you."

I heard mother and father draw in a rough breath and I felt my heart ache for Lightning. She was looking at us now with some of that vulnerability of hers exposed and I saw that almost desperate gleam in her eyes again and finally understood it for what it was. She wanted us to accept her and she was pleading – as much as she could, or ever would – for us to understand.

It was too much.

"I know you won't!" I shouted, startling everyone else as I drove hard to my feet. "I know you won't ever do anything like that! You're a good person!"

Her eyes widened in shock and then I saw her lips curl into a small, but very real smile. "You're a good kid, Hope, to believe that much in me."

Mother and father looked at each other and I could tell that though they'd talked to Lightning, they'd not really settled much. I was worried that they might say something mean, but when mother spoke her voice was kind.

"I won't lie to you, Lightning. There's a part of you that scares me something fierce." Mother paused. "Some of the places I saw growing up were plenty rough and I've seen men killed before, but I've never seen someone do it quite like you." She closed her eyes. "But I suppose that what I'm trying to say is that I trust you. I can't say that you don't scare me some, but I do believe you've only got what's best for us at heart."

Lightning nodded slowly. "I suppose that's fair enough, Nora." She looked at father. "And you, Bart, what do you have to say?"

Father sighed. "I guess I'm with Nora. I trust you, Lightning. I wouldn't still be with you – rough journey or not – if I thought you'd harm me or my family, but you have to admit you're something awful dangerous."

Lightning nodded again and her expression turned serious. "I'm about the most dangerous thing there is in these parts, Bart, I'll not try and lie about that. But I'm not dangerous to you and yours. I meant what I said before, but I'll say it again: I'll not let harm come to you or your family."

Father nodded back. "And I'll say what I said then: I'll take your word for it."

The very next day, things were easier. With things out in the open and with everybody knowing where everybody else stood, we were almost like before, only there was still that slight distance between Lightning and us, some invisible gap that hadn't been there before. I wanted so much to bridge it, but I wasn't sure that anything could. Sometimes, things just stayed broken.

As we went along, the landscape began to bother me something fierce. It didn't seem right that there should be rivers so close at hand, but no real plants to speak of. And with no kind of cover, it got plenty hot, a fact not helped by the way the rocks seemed to soak up the heat. There were times when I could have sworn that I could feel the heat through my shoes and I had no idea how the chocobos could walk without burning their feet. The only breaks in the glum scenery came in the form of the small families of mountain goats that we saw scamper amongst the boulders and crags.

They were pretty good to watch, stoutly built, with an agility that defied belief. They leapt from boulder to boulder with ease and then clambered up inclines that had to be too steep for anything else. We also spotted a couple of hill cats, but they were smaller than the ones we'd seen before and when we pointed our guns at them, they were quick to back away. I thought I saw a wild chocobo, but by the time I gathered my wits enough to point at it, the bird was gone. Still, Lightning had a hint of a smile on her face, so I figured she'd seen it too.

Lightning was definitely right about the wind. It was something terrible. It never stopped and it never seemed to weaken. There were times I felt that it was just about drilling its way into my skull. It got to be so bad that I could barely think and each time we took cover for the night, it was like I'd stepped into another world, one where I could hear again, could think and feel without that awful, droning wail of a wind biting at me.

It must've been the wind that did it. For all that Lightning seemed unaffected, it must have been even worse for her, given that she seemed to sense things so much more keenly than my folks or me. It must have blunted her senses some, must have drowned that keen hearing of hers in a wall of noise that even she couldn't make sense of. We were just passing by a large group of boulders when one of the black chocobos pulling my father's wagon vanished. That sounds crazy, but it was what happened. One moment the big black bird was there, next it was just gone.

A second later, the chocobos went crazy, even Velo, all of them chomping at the bit and clawing to get away from the boulders. I saw why soon enough. The black chocobo was up there, suspended in the coils of the largest snake I'd ever seen. It was the exact same colour as the rocks and maybe sixty feet long. It tightened its coils around the chocobo and that stout, powerfully built bird gave a hideous, squealing shriek before it collapsed in on itself. Then the snake dropped the chocobo and looked at the rest of us. A snake that big, I figured it needed a lot to eat and we were right there for the taking.

Lightning had her pistol in her hand and fired before the rest of us had even stopped gaping in horrified awe. But for all its size, the snake was fast. It jerked aside and the bullets went wide and then it darted forward, that huge head moving as fast as a bullet. Somehow, Lightning managed to get Brownie clear as mother and father scrambled away and started to open fire with their shotguns. As for me, I was forced to hop off Sunny, the tawny female scared completely witless, as I tried to steady my arm enough to get off an accurate shot. I squeezed off two rounds, the snake seemed to sense them coming and the great coils of its body flicked up to shield its head. The thick scales it had were too much for even the heavy slugs to break through and the snake hissed horribly as it considered its next move.

"Get back!" Lightning shouted, but that was easier said than done on the narrow path.

The snake heard her cry and lunged toward her again, but this time she was ready. She flung her saddle roll at it and in the split-second that its eyes were blocked she freed her sabre and stabbed down into the snake's skull. It was a powerful blow, one with all her strength and weight behind it and for a moment, I thought the snake was dead. Yet she must have missed, or else she snake's skull was even tougher than I thought, for it shuddered and tossed its head to the side. Still holding her sabre, Lighting was tossed off the path and into one the canyons.

I cried out for now the snaking was boring in on me and there was a hungry look on it as the blood coursed down the side of its head. Not sure what else to do, I fired until my gun came up empty and then scrambled behind one of the wagons. The snake crashed into the wagon with terrible force and the wagon rocked for a moment until it settled, too heavy for the snake to simply brush aside. That option gone, the snake shot around the wagon and I heard father curse violently, something he rarely did, as he pumped shot after shot into the snake with seemingly no effect. Mother was screaming too, her hands shaking almost too badly for her to reload her own shotgun.

And then Lightning's sabre was flying through the air. It struck the snake in the side of the head and stuck there. The snake screamed shrilly and with a furious hiss turned to lunge toward Lightning who was standing at the edge of the path. I wasn't sure how she'd gotten back up, but frankly I didn't care. She waited until the last second to dodge and as the snake surged past, she yanked her sabre free. Blood spurted from the wound and jumped just in time to evade the thick coils of the snake's body as it tried to tie her up in them.

Lightning whistled sharply and I saw a flash of gold. Velo, her loyal chocobo, was there and with a shrill cry, the chocobo bit into the snake's tail with his sharp beak. The snake whirled to face this latest attack and for a second its attention was divided. That was Lightning's chance and she seized it without hesitation. The whole fight, I'd seen that fierce strength that lived inside Lightning building and now it seemed to ignite and fill her wholly body with a sureness of movement and a fleetness of foot that were more than mortal.

She sprinted forward, dodging the snake's coils and then, with a kick off a big boulder, launched herself at the snake's head. It was a crazy move and the snake tried to jerk away, but somehow she managed to get her sabre to dig into the scales along its neck. The snake hissed with pain and she darted up until she was level with its face. Then, to my complete astonishment, she stuck her whole arm with her pistol still in her hand, right into the snake's mouth. The snake immediately tried to bite down, but there was a muffled boom as she fired the gun up into the roof of the snake's mouth and then another and another until she'd emptied every round she had into the snake's head.

The snake's eyes rolled back into its head and its mouth swung open. Lightning pulled her hand out of its mouth as the snake fell to the ground. She leapt away and the snake's body thrashed for a few moments until finally it was still. It sure was something to look at, easily sixty feet long and I grimaced as I watched Lightning wipe her arm clear of blood and other things. In the struggle, the snake had thrown her sabre free and it lay on the ground not more than a few feet from me. I walked over to it and picked it up, careful of the edge. Despite myself, I couldn't help but look at the words that were engraved on the hand guard of the sabre and almost worn away. It was difficult to make them out, but they looked a lot like "Bodhum Cavalry".

I wanted nothing more than the chance to examine those words more closely, but before I knew it, Lightnig was taking the sabre from me and wiping the blood and gore from it. The fierce energy that had awakened in her was banking into mere embers now as she turned to mother and father.

"These snakes are tough all over. The only real weak point is in the roof of their mouth. It's about the only place that you can get a bullet to go through other than the eyes, but they're to quick for that to work often."

After that it wasn't too long before we got going again, but not before Lightning had us cut the snake up a bit. Apparently, it was edible and seeing as how it had done its level best to eat the lot of us, I figured it was only fair that we put the shoe on the other foot.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off of this.

This chapter was really about trying to gauge some of the aftermath of Lightning's decision to kill the men in the previous chapter. It might seem trite to have Hope believe in her like he does, but then again he's never really come into contact with people like Lightning before. His mother and father have had their fair share of bad experiences with dangerous people, whereas he's only ever seen her doing good things. The giant snake was something I've always wanted to include, because really giant snakes are cool, and they're just the kind of animal to take advantage of the heat and terrain. Honestly, it was either a giant snake or a dinosaur and something about a T-Rex just didn't feel right. On the other hand, snakes have long been present in Westerns (admittedly they are usually somewhat smaller and poisonous), so I felt it would be okay to slip one in. In any case, it just felt like a good fit for the chapter.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

It was well into the second week of our passage through the foothills when I noticed a subtle shift in the way that Lightning looked at our surroundings. As always, there was that razor keen awareness, even sharper than before since our encounter with the snake. How she managed to keep so alert in the face of that soul killing wind, I'll never know, but somehow she did. And it was a good thing too. More than once she led us up along a different path when she spotted trouble up ahead, usually in the form of the one of those giant snakes just lying in wait, or else unstable terrain that might've looked okay, but probably would have crumbled the moment we set foot on it.

But apart from that almost inhuman alertness, there was a knowing look to her now. It was almost as though she was counting off the landmarks that we passed. To what purpose, I could not be sure, but I had a feeling that she'd been this way before and that whatever lay ahead must somehow be very important to her. Sometimes too, she would look at me and mother and father, and I wasn't certain that she was seeing us. It was like she was back in another time with other people and from the bittersweet smile that sometimes ghosted on her lips, I got the feeling that maybe she was remembering things and that the remembering both hurt and healed her.

I was tempted many times to ask her about the writing I'd seen on her sabre. It was a custom back in those days to write on weapons like that, usually to indicate which group it belonged to. I guess it was pride that made people do things like that, and from what I'd seen that sabre do, it was a weapon to be proud of, and Lightning was more than worthy to be its wielder.

One day, when Lightning was again staring with a kind of nostalgic look at a great spire of rock that rose, tall and thin, to the east of us, I asked my father about her sabre.

"Father," I asked, "Do you know anything about the Bodhum Cavalry?"

My father started badly, and I thought for a second that he might fall off the wagon. He managed to right himself and then he gestured for me to lower my voice. Then he whispered, "Where did you hear about them, Hope?"

I shrugged. "It was written on Lightning's sabre."

A knowing look came over father's face and he nodded a bit to himself. It was a very long while before he replied, and when he did there was a mournful air about him. It was like what I'd told him made him all sorts of sad, although whether it was for himself or Lightning, I couldn't say. Finally, he spoke. "I can't say I'm too surprised, now that I think about it. It might explain a few things or more about Lightning."

I tilted my head to one side and urged Sunny to slow down a tad. With only three chocobos to pull his wagon, father was going along a little slower than before. It wouldn't be too bad, Lightning said, but it was noticeable just the same. "What do you mean by that?"

Father looked sideways at Lightning and studied her for a couple of moments as if to make sure she wasn't listening in. I thought that was silly. Whether she looked it or not, Lightning was always listening in. Besides, the wind meant that we couldn't really whisper, although since we were downwind of her, at least we didn't have to worry about it carrying our words over to Lightning. "It happened while you were still young, Hope."

"What did?" Father wasn't usually a tricky man to talk to. Most times, when he had something to say, he'd say it straight. Sometimes he used big words that I didn't understand until he explain them, but he wasn't normally a shifty fellow. "Please, father, tell me." 

And then he sighed, a long and heavy sigh, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. "I guess I could, but you have to promise not to let any of this slip to Lightning. Some of what I'm about to tell you I saw with my own eyes, other parts I heard from people I met, so I can't be sure that everything is right." He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and then began. "It started just before you were born. You see, when people first started settling in these parts, they mainly settled back east along the coast. There were a couple of tribes there, but they were mostly nomads. Once our cities and towns got too big for them, most of them just up and changed where they roamed to pass us by.

"The trouble really came when we started pushing out West. People wanted their own land, Hope, and when things got to crowded back east, the West was the only place they could get it. The problem was that the tribes in the West aren't like the ones back east. These lands belong to them and they stay here all year round. The tribes didn't mind at first, when it was just a few settlers heading way out West to where nobody lived, but then people got to thinking that the tribes had some pretty good land themselves and wasn't it a waste for a bunch of savages to have it when civilised folks could put good use to it?" Father saw the look on my face and gave me a bitter smile. "I know, Hope, that's fool talk. People have a right to what's theirs and those lands were the tribes' fair and square, but the chance for a big profit can do funny things to people.

"At first people tried to buy the tribes off, often with cheap stuff, trinkets really, because they thought that the tribes were stupid. But the tribes weren't stupid, different sure, but not stupid and they got mighty offended when people tried to cheat them. After that, people tried to buy them off, some of them even offered fair rates for their land, but that didn't work either, because the land wasn't just dirt and grass to the tribes – it was home and that isn't something that you can take from people, not with money.

"So when you were about four or five, people finally got tired of trying to do things business like. If the tribes wouldn't move, they'd be made to move. The fighting went all over the West, although I heard it wasn't so bad on the plains. However, it was really bad just south of here, and by bad I don't mean just that there was a lot of fighting, no I mean the way the war was fought was bad. See, Hope, there are some things that people shouldn't do, not even in a war. There were reports up and down the West that the army, and even some of the settlers, weren't just going after the tribes' warriors. No, I heard they were going after women and children too, and that's just not right.

"But the tribes weren't pushovers and it got to be so bad that the government way back east in Sanctum finally had enough. They made a law so that all settlers in the West had to send whoever they could to help fight or else they'd lose the land they'd settled in. It was a mean trick, because that land was theirs by law, so long as it wasn't overlapping with anyone else's, or so the government had promised when they'd first gone out there. It made some people plenty angry too, because there were settlers who'd had enough of the war, especially the way that it was being fought, or who'd made their own peace with the tribes. Still, when the government made that law, they had no choice but to fight.

"Now the Bodhum River runs right through the Archelyte Steppe, which is where we're headed. Most folk who live along it just say they're from Bodhum. When the government's law was made, there were already a fair few families living out that way and they'd already had things the hardest. It was they who'd taken the worst of the tribes' attacks, being all isolated and all, and a fair few them were pretty vengeful minded, for all that they were decent folk.

"So those who could fight joined up and got their commissions and it wasn't long before they had a cavalry unit going. They got to be pretty famous too, because riding out in those days meant you had to be pretty good on a chocobo and a fair shot with a gun too. They did pretty well in the war, inflicted more than their fair share of casualties, but they were pretty decent. Their leader, a Captain Amodar, I think he was called, was a good man, and he made sure they never crossed the line when it came to killing. Warriors were one thing, but women and children were off limits. Things changed when Amodar got killed. Their new leader… she must have been called Captain Nabaat or something… well anyway, she was a different sort. The way she saw things, as long as someone was part of a tribe they were fair game. It didn't matter if they were a kid or a woman or anything, she'd have them killed just the same and you can imagine how the tribes took that.

"The war dragged on a few more years until finally both sides got pretty sick of it. In the end, the government and the tribes signed some treaty and just about called it quits. But Nabaat wouldn't have any of it. I heard she went mad, led the Bodhum Cavalry up into the heart of where the Yun tribe lived. You don't hear too much about the Yun anymore, what with them living way up in the mountains, but that was the last anyone heard of Bodhum Cavalry."

Father fell silent and I was quiet too, mulling over his words for a long time as I urged Sunny to take me up ahead to get some space to think. I'd heard about the war. Everyone had. Only, what I'd learned at school back east seemed mighty tame compared to what father had told. Supposed to be, there were only a few skirmishes and a pitched battle or two, before a treaty got signed that opened up the West. I guess my father saw things differently, but I believed him. He'd worked out West a spell before I was born, helping to build the bridges that led into Midgar Town. He'd met mother then, and even if we'd already been living back east when the war was at its worst, he must've kept in touch with people he trusted back West.

Still, I had a hard time believing that Lightning was involved in all that war business. For one, she didn't seem old enough. If she'd have fought, she'd couldn't have been much more than my age when she did, and that was only if she'd fought in the later parts. Fact was though, they didn't make sabres like hers much anymore, and I couldn't see her robbing a grave for one. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to think, but there was no way I'd ever ask her.

The restless that was in Lightning grew with each day until it finally came to a head just as we reached the end of the foothills. There was a vast, wide pass where the foothills met the mountains, and it was the last real stretch of open area. It was striking sight, framed with soaring walls of rock on one side, and a deep, plummeting ravine filled with water on the other. Standing just right, I could see the rest of the foothills spread out before me, bumps in the skin of the earth, all loose gravel and hard rock. At the same time, if I looked the other way, I could see the mountains up ahead. They were huge, so big that they seemed to go on forever, so high that it made me dizzy just to look at them. The tallest of them were ringed with white – snow, I realised – and you could all but feel the cold, majestic glory of them strike you like a kick in the guts.

But all of those things paled before the stark beauty of the graves. There were perhaps one hundred of them, arranged into neat rows and columns, fifty on one side of the path and fifty more on the other. My mind whirled at the thought of all the effort that it would have taken to dig proper graves in these parts, to cut six feet down through the solid rock amidst the howling wind.

"We should stop a moment," father said, "Pay our respects."

Mother nodded and I hopped off Sunny and walked over to the closest of the graves. At the head of each grave was a simple mound of earth and rocks and despite looking for a few minutes, I couldn't find anything that could tell me who was buried where. The only things to distinguish between the graves were the weapons driven into the piles of earth and rock. For about half the graves, the weapon was a sabre, and as far as I could tell each looked just like the one that Lightning had. For the other graves, there were an assortment of weapons, from spears to knives, all of which looked to be of tribal design. Looking closer at the sabres, I had to bite back a groan of disappointment. The savage wind had all but stripped the writing from the hand guards of the sabres. Even though I could tell that there had once been writing on them, there was no way that I could read that writing now.

Mother and father stayed real quiet as I wandered amongst the graves. Lightning herself said nothing, but then I saw her take her sabre from its place in her saddle roll and walk over to the first of the graves. She bowed her head and raised her sabre in a salute. I thought she might stop then, but she continued, walking from grave to grave, her eyes locked on to something that no one else could see, her mind in a place too dark for folk like my parents or I to ever fathom.

It must have been hard work, and tiresome too, for she bowed her head and saluted with her sabre at each grave, but she kept at it and she did not seem to distinguish between the graves marked with sabres and the graves marked with other weapons. The whole time, neither mother nor father said a word. They just bowed their heads and held hands. I backed out of the graves and stood beside them, feeling somehow that we were intruding on something very deep and very private that was Lightning's alone.

Finally, when she'd gone to all the graves, Lightning turned and nodded once at us. For a moment, I thought that her eyes might be wet with tears, but then she was herself again, beautiful and peerless in the absolute totality of her control. She got back up on Velo and waited for all of us to get ready again and then we left.

As we left the graves behind and headed into the mountains proper, I looked back one last time. At first glance, the graves seemed odd and poorly matched, yet the longer I looked the righter it seemed that whoever had buried these people had not distinguished between them.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

In this chapter, we head out of the foothills and into the mountains. We also find out more about the war that Vanille mentioned in Chapter 8. If you're wondering why Hope doesn't seem to know too much about the war, there are a number of reasons. As Bart makes plain, the war was mostly a Western affair. Back east, where Hope was raised and educated, most people didn't have a way of finding out what was really going on. Only those like Bart who had been out West and knew people there had a chance of learning what was happening.

You may also be curious as to why Vanille's account (although brief) of the war to Hope seems to be much less horrible than Bart's. The reason is that Vanille's clan was spared the worst of the war. Because of their location and the danger they presented (not much) they were never really affected as badly as some of the other tribes. Indeed, as Vanille implies in Chapter 8, their relations with the settlers have at times been friendly.

Overall, the only ones who can possibly know just what the war entailed are those who fought in it. Thus far, none of the characters that have provided their points of view can meet this criterion.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The mountains were something I'd hear a great deal about back east. They were supposed to be towering walls of wind-sheared rock that rose right up to the very ceiling of the world. Looking at them now, I wasn't disappointed. Even right near the base of them the temperature had already begun to drop until it was so cold that the rattle of my bones made me forget all about it being summer everywhere else.

"Put these on," mother said as she called me over to her wagon. She had a thick coat for me, and gloves too, and I was more than grateful to accept them, even though it hadn't been too long ago that I'd poked a little fun at her for bringing them.

Even Lightning seemed to have conceded to the cold. She had a great big dark-grey cloak on and an extra pair of gloves. Her scarf, a swirl of scarlet that normally rested more about her shoulders than her neck, was now wrapped snugly around her neck to help ward off the cold.

"Keep close," Lightning cautioned as we set out along the narrow, icy path up the mountain. "The path here is narrow and the summer melt can mean trouble."

"Summer melt?" I asked.

She kept her eyes on the path ahead, alert for trouble. "During winter the whole mountain range freezes up. During the summer the ice thaws some and a couple of paths open up."

I tilted my head to one side, a little puzzled. "That's a good thing though, isn't it?"

"Not always." Lightning's eyes drifted up to the slopes of the mountains above us. Following her gaze, I was struck again by the drifts of snow that turned the mountainsides a crisp white. It had been a while since I'd seen snow, and I'd never seen it during summer before.

"When some of the ice and snow melts during summer, it turns into water and that water has to go somewhere." Her voice was steady, but I saw a shudder run through both mother and father as she continued. "And the only place that water can go is down. Most times, it's not so bad. The rivers start up here, and most of the water just empties onto the plains. Sometimes though, too much of that ice and snow melts and the rivers burst their banks or just plain carve out a new path for themselves."

I gulped, understanding at last what had my folks looking so worried. If the rivers got too big, or if we found ourselves in the path of a newly cut river, then the odds were we'd been in a world of hurt. At worst, we'd be swept clear off the path, or else we might end up wet, but ending up wet in this kind of cold meant ending up dead.

"Anything else we need to worry about?" father asked. "Seems to me the mountains might be home to some dangerous kinds of creatures."

Lightning nodded. "There're plenty of other dangerous things up here. It doesn't help either that the cold means you have to work twice as hard to keep a gun in working order." Her hand dropped to the gun at her side and I saw her run one finger along the barrel. "There are some snow bears up here. They're not as tough on the outside as an adamantine bear, but they're even bigger and likely faster and stronger too. If we've timed things right though, they'll have their pick of mountain chocobo to eat and will leave us well enough alone."

"There are chocobos up here?" I asked, looking around, although it was foolish to think that one would just pop up.

"The ones up here are white." Lightning patted Brownie's head affectionately. The brown chocobo was almost ready for another rider, or so she said, even one so inexperienced as me. "They're tough and reliable. You wouldn't think it, but they're plenty fast too." She trailed off and I got the feeling she was thinking of someplace real far, both in time and place. "I had one once. He was the fastest chocobo I ever rode."

Feeling a little bold, I decided to push a little. "What was his name?"

She glanced back at me, and I worried that I had overstepped my bounds, but she just swept her hat back to secure it against the wind and glance back ahead. "Odin. His name was Odin."

Father coughed, part from the cold, but more to get things back on track. "So, we should be on the lookout for bears, anything else we need to know about?"

"There are cats up here too that get plenty big." She shrugged. "Things get bigger up here, but at the same time there are less of him. Most times you run into trouble, there's just the one to worry about."

That seemed to settle father until mother asked: "Are there any tribes up here?"

A funny sort of looked crossed Lightning's face and for a moment, I saw the graveyard again, the orderly rows of sabres and spears glittering in the sunlight. "Not anymore," Lightning said softly. "But there is someone up here that we should see."

I blinked. "Someone lives up here?" Honestly, I could scarcely believe it. Even with the thick coat I was wearing, the cold was something fierce. What kind of person could put up with this sort of thing all year round?

"He's…" Lightning seemed to have to search for the words. "An old friend. He should know for sure which paths are open and which are closed. If the weather stays decent we should reach him in about two weeks." She paused. "For now, just follow my lead and keep an eye on where you're going. Stay warm too. If you're not sure if you should add another layer, then add another layer."

We wound our way up into the mountains for the whole day. As we rose, it got harder and harder to breathe as the air thinned out and it wasn't long before I was struggling a little to stay steady in the saddle. The cold only made things worse and I grew to be sick of the icy mist that formed in front of my every time I took a breath. Looking around, I saw that mother and father were in much the same boat as me, and both Sunny and Brownie were looking worse for wear too.

Luckily though, I was on Velo, and he at least seemed to take things well enough. When Lightning decided to call a stop to things early, I couldn't have been more pleased. Of course, it helped some that she'd decided to call a halt in front of a cave. The thought of getting out of the wind and cold was a tempting one, especially when you threw in a fire and a hot meal.

I was just about to run into the cave when Lightning stopped me. "Wait outside a minute. I've got to check things out."

I shivered. "Can I come?" I asked hopefully.

Lightning shook her head firmly. "Cave like this, Hope, usually has one of three things inside it. First, it might be empty, and I'm hoping that it is. On the other hand, there might be a snow bear inside, or maybe a big cat. If that happens, things could get really unpleasant." She nodded at my folks. "So you and your folks stay here and keep your guns ready."

After that Lightning went into the cave, a lit torch in one hand, her pistol in the other. I managed to wait pretty patiently for a bit, but after fifteen minutes had passed and she still hadn't come out, I started to get a little worried.

"What if something's happened to her?" I asked mother and father. "We should go inside. She might be hurt or something."

Mother and father exchanged looks and for a moment, I was sure they'd say no. They'd have good reason to. Anything strong enough to hurt Lightning would most likely make pretty short work out of us, but I figured that we owed it to her to at least check in on her. Father seemed to think so too.

"I don't consider myself to brave a man," father said. "But she's done right by us." He gulped and checked his shotgun. "Grab a torch, Hope, and we'll get going."

The cave was a fair bit bigger than I expected, but when we reached Lightning, she wasn't hurt or anything. Rather, she looked a little sad as she stood with her torch propped up against a rock and her eyes on three small bear cubs. Behind them, outlined in the flickering light of her torch was another bear, easily eighteen feet long, and by all appearances quite dead. That last bit puzzled me, because I hadn't heard any shooting, and there wasn't any blood about either.

"Wow."

Lightning gave my folks and me a faintly reproachful look. "You Estheims sure like to go looking for trouble. If you're wondering, no, I didn't kill that bear." She pointed over at something I hadn't noticed before. There was a wound just over the bear's right shoulder and it looked to have been pretty badly infected. "I'm guessing that's the mother. It looks like it had a run in with someone else and got shot. She would have been fine, probably healed up good, if it weren't for the wound getting infected. I figure she's been dead maybe two or three days."

"And the cubs?" mother asked. A little smile worked its way across my face. Even though their mother was all kinds of scary, even though she was dead, the cubs themselves were downright adorable. It was easy enough to see that mother wanted nothing more than to pick one of the little balls of fur up and was probably just waiting for Lightning's okay to do so.

"They're about a week old. I'm actually surprised they lived this long without their mother." Lightning shook her head. "Whoever fired that shot should have settled things."

"You sound pretty sympathetic there," father said quietly.

Lightning's expression was unreadable. "Animals aren't like people, Bart. Mostly, they'll only kill because they're hungry. That doesn't mean you have to let them kill you, but if you're going to shoot one, do the decent thing and don't let it suffer too much." She eased the hammer of her pistol back and pointed it at the cubs.

"What are you doing?" mother shouted as she reached for Lightning's arm. A couple of inches short, she remembered just whom she was dealing with and her hands dropped, along with her voice. "They're no threat to us. We can't just shoot them!"

"What else would you have me do, Nora?" Lightning murmured. "Their mother is dead and I doubt they'll last more than another few days before they starved. They might not even last that long if a big cat comes this way."

"We can help them," mother insisted. "I'll admit I don't know the first thing about rearing cubs, but we have to try." She looked at father for support. "We've got more than enough supplies to at least try."

Lightning drew in a deep, tired sounding breath and for a long time she just looked at mother. Finally, she lowered her gun and then nodded at mother. "I suppose we can try."

Mother smiled warmly. "Go get some blankets from the wagon, Hope."

As I hurried off to get the blankets, I heard mother speak again. "Thank you, Lightning."

Lightning sighed. "You're a kind woman, Nora."

Mother's voice trembled a little as she replied. "So are you, Lightning."

When I got back with the blankets, much to my surprise, it was Lightning who took them from me. I watched, a little slack-jawed, as she saw to the bear cubs herself. She lifted each of the cubs separately, wiping away the frost that had gathered on their fur from the cold and swaddling them in the warm blankets. They all mewed and whimpered pathetically as she did this and while Lightning didn't say a word to comfort them, her hands were moving, stroking gently but firmly along their bodies. It was then that I looked – really looked – at Lightning's hands, maybe for the first time.

I'd always kind of imagined that her hands were pretty big for a woman, with broad, square-tipped fingers. It wasn't that I thought her manly or some such – just one look at her face and you couldn't help but know that she was all woman – but she was always just so strong. She could handle that gun of hers like it weighed nothing and that sabre of hers too. It was only natural then, to think that she had to have big, strong hands. Only hers didn't really look like that at all.

Her hands were unmistakably feminine, with lean, slender fingers. I could see calluses on them and while some of them were the kind I thought must come from a gun or a sabre, there were others that spoke of a life besides that spent with a gun or a sabre. But what surprised me most of all was how small her hands actually were. They were just about the same size as mother's, and just looking at them, they seemed too small and fragile to belong to someone as strong as Lightning. It was only in motion, I realised, only when those hands of Lightning's held a gun or wielded a sabre that they looked strong.

I must have been staring something fierce, because father nudged me in the ribs. "Why don't you take one of those cubs, Hope. I doubt Lightning can carry them all."

But carry them all she did. For all that mother had been the one to say we should save them, it was Lightning who carried them up to near the front of the cave where the wagons were. It was only there that she let go of them.

"Take right good care of them, Nora," Lightning said, but her eyes weren't on the cubs alone, they were on father and me too.

Mother, eyes a little bright, only nodded.

"What'll we do with them now?" father asked as we got a fire started up. "We can't just bring them with us all the way, can we?"

Mother looked a little alarmed, but Lightning just nodded calmly. "That's true enough. Still, if we can get them to my old friend in one piece, I fancy he'll see to them until they're fit to live on their own."

"That sounds fair enough," mother said. "You said we'd make it to his place in a week or two, right?" Lightning nodded and mother's gaze grew resolute. "Then I'll make sure they get there. You have my word on that, Lightning."

For most of that first night, mother and Lightning looked through the wagons for things that the cubs might be able live off. I wasn't sure what they'd find – we hadn't exactly planned for rearing bear cubs when we'd packed – but we had plenty of water and lots of dried and powdered stuff that they might be able to try.

When I woke up the next morning, I found mother with two cubs in her arms and a big grin on her face. She pointed over to the opposite wall of the cave and then I was grinning too. Mother had gone to sleep with all three of the cubs wrapped up in her arms, which hadn't surprised me too much. She had a way with animals and the cubs had warmed to her real fast. But during the night it looked like one of the cubs had wandered out of her arms and over to Lightning. It was just going on dawn and Lightning would normally be up and about, but for now she was just sitting against the wall of the cave with the little cub asleep on her lap, nuzzling into her touch as she ran her fingers through its fine white fur.

"That one seems to have taken to quite a liking to you, Lightning," mother said as she hid a smile behind her hand.

Lightning sort of jerked at my mother's voice and would have driven to her feet, but she stopped short when the cub in her lap gave a weak mewl at the sudden movement of its comfortable perch.

"Good morning to you both," Lightning said as she sat back down and quietened the cub. "We should get going soon."

"A few more minutes won't hurt." Mother grinned slyly. "Besides you looked like you were enjoying yourself just fine.

Lightning said nothing, but I could have sworn her cheeks were flushed, although that might have been the cold.

The next two weeks through the mountains were pretty tough. The thinner air made it hard to think sometimes, and the cold got to be so bad that I took to counting my fingers and toes each morning, just too make sure none had fallen off during the night. It didn't help either that Lightning said that what I was doing was a good idea, seeing as how apparently things like that really could happen.

I also saw my first real waterfall. Sure I'd seen a few back east, but they were nothing compared the one I saw one afternoon as we slogged up yet another mountain path. The water came off the side of a mountain just across from us and plummeted maybe seven or eight hundred feet straight down into a pool of crystal clear water. The sound of it was so loud that even though it was on the next mountain over, we could hear it. It took mother and father maybe ten minutes to pull me away from the sight.

There were other perks to the mountains too. For all their deadliness, there was a quietness to them, a kind of peace and oldness that made me feel both a little afraid and pretty grateful just to be there. Each morning when we woke, the sun would come shining in through the wispy clouds and sometimes when I looked down, I could see the foothills and plains spread out before me. When that happened it was easy to believe that we really were climbing to the top of the world.

The cubs made pretty interesting company too. Mother and Lightning came up with some weird broth to feed them and I knew better than to ask exactly what was in it. In any case, it seemed to work a treat, and it wasn't long before the cubs got their strength back and their whimpering became more curious than pained.

By the third day with us, they'd gotten enough of their strength back that two of them had taken to riding alongside mother in her wagon. They made for quite a picture, mother with her hands on the reins and her eyes on the path, and the cubs poking at her sides and sleeves with their noses and paws as their natural curiosity came to the fore. That wasn't to say they didn't come in handy, though. They had a keen sense of smell and more than once they let us know – either by the sounds they made or the way they acted – that something troublesome was near.

The other cub rode with Lightning. It hadn't been planned that way, but the little thing would follow her everywhere and make the most pitiful noises if it didn't get to go with her. That meant that Lightning had to ride Velo, because Brownie wanted nothing to do with the cubs, even though they couldn't have been much different in size from his feet. The other chocobos were better, although Sunny always looked a little nervous when the cubs wandered too close.

It was clear to me that the cubs had a softening effect on Lightning. She liked looking after them and it seemed to come pretty naturally to her to, and I understood for the first time that for all her deadliness, Lightning was a protector. After all, she'd protected my folks and me plenty of times, and it just seemed right that she'd protect these clubs, as well. That made me wonder about why she'd wanted to kill the cubs in the first place, but then I remembered what she'd said at the time and realised that she'd only wanted to spare them pain.

The end of our second week in the mountains came and we still hadn't seen hide or hair of the man that Lightning said we were going to meet.

"His place should be just through the next the pass," Lightning said as she rode up ahead, the bear cub in her lap. "We should be there by –"

Whatever she was going to say next was cut off by the thunderous roar of a gunshot.

In a flash, she had manoeuvred Velo behind a rock. Mother and father were only moments behind as they hopped off their wagons and used them for cover. I was over there pretty quickly too and the three of us exchanged looks as mother and Lightning did their best to quieten the cubs who had begun to wail.

"Stay down," Lightning cautioned as she peaked around her rock. "I'll find the shooter."

For a few moments, no one said a thing as Lightning scanned the area keenly. Finally, she nodded and gestured at a spot up near the pass. It took me a moment to see what she meant, but then I gasped. Barely visible against the snow because of the white cloth wrapped around it, was the barrel of a rifle.

"You folks better introduce yourselves," a young, female voice shouted. "Because I'm getting mighty impatient and you have to know that I missed that first shot on purpose."

Lightning's eyes widened a fraction and then to my amazement, she holstered her gun and stepped out from behind her rock. Then she took off her hat and spoke. "You're still pretty quick on the trigger."

"Lightning?" the voice said. "Is that you? Yes! It is you!"

And before I knew it, something was sprinting toward us and throwing itself at Lightning. For a moment, I could only stare as the white-clad figure appeared to try and strangle Lightning, something that the bear cub didn't take too kindly to as it leapt into the fray. It was only then that I realised that the white-clad figure wasn't strangling Lighting, so much as hugging her.

"Hey, what is that thing?" the white-clad figure said before she got off Lightning and pried off the bear cub and handed it back to Lightning. "I know you're weird, Lightning, but what are you doing with a bear cub?"

Lightning's response was to scowl and take the cub back. "Why don't you introduce yourself first, Yuffie."

The white-clad figure chuckled and pulled back the hood of her jacket. Underneath was a pretty young woman with shoulder-length black hair and playful grey eyes. She was also grinning pretty widely as she watched my folks stagger over looking a little shocked. Not only was Yuffie talking to Lightning like she was an old friend, she still had the rifle she'd just shot at us with slung over her back. Her clothing was also entirely white, which made me wonder if she hadn't been waiting for us.

"Howdy, folks. I'm Yuffie," she said, smiling broadly and extending one hand. My folks were speechless as they shook her hand.

Lightning sighed. "Yuffie, meet the Estheims."

Yuffie laughed. "Well, it's nice to meet you all. Sorry about shooting at you before, but it was just a warning shot. If I'd wanted to kill you, well, there'd be a hole in your…" she grinned sheepishly and decided to change track, which was a good thing, because Lightning was glaring at her pretty strongly. "Anyway, if you're wondering what's with the shooting first and asking questions later, we had some trouble a few weeks back with some people passing through." She laughed again. "No hard feelings?"

Father seemed to regather himself. "No… that's okay. I can understand being a little careful." He looked sideways at Lightning. "We had some trouble ourselves not too long ago."

Yuffie smirked. "I bet Lightning took care of that didn't she?"

Father shared an uncomfortable look with mother and then coughed. "That she did."

"What are you doing here, Yuffie?" Lightning asked. "The last I heard, you were down south. You never did like the cold much."

Yuffie shrugged. "What can I say? I got sick of waiting for Vinnie to get things together and figured the best way to get things moving was to come in person." Her gaze turned serious and I got the impression it wasn't something she did much, because the expression seemed to unsettle Lightning a little. "And how about you, Lightning, you still fiddle footed? You know you can't change the –"

Lightning cut her off. "Never mind that, Yuffie. Is he still up here? I need to know which paths are open."

Yuffied sighed. "You know how stubborn he is." She looked at the cub that had begun to paw rather ineffectually at her foot. "Hey, stop that…"

"So, he's still here then," Lightning said.

"Wait up a second," father said. "Who is this Vinnie?"

"He's this fool who really likes red and –"

"Vincent Valentine is an old friend," Lightning said, shooting Yuffie a warning look. "He's lived up in these mountains for a good while now. If anybody knows about how the paths are faring, it's him." She looked at Yuffie. "Let's go."

As Yuffie led the way, I shared a look with mother and father. Lightning certainly seemed to know some strange people.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off this.

So, in this chapter we see another side to Lightning. In particular, we see the side of her that drives her to protect. I think this is important, because as much as glaring, punching people, and generally being awesome are aspects of Lightning's character, protecting is also very much a part of who she is. Look at how she did her best to raise Serah and then, during their Focus, how she did her best to look after Hope. Also, for those not in the know, Yuffie and Vincent (aka Vinne) are characters from FF VII.

As an aside, I have always wondered what would happen if people from the different Final Fantasy games could meet. Can you imagine how depressing a group made up of Squall, Cloud, Lightning, and Vincent would be? On the other hand, can you imagine what a group made up of Yuffie, Rikku, and Vanille could get up to? Absolutely no one would be safe.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

It didn't take long for me to figure Yuffie for quite a talker. She was talking pretty much the whole time as she led us through the pass and not only to Lightning, but to my folks and me too. She asked about everything and listened just long enough to hear our replies before she asked another question.

My folks took things pretty well. It was plain to see that Yuffie didn't mean any harm and just like Vanille, she had an air about her that kind of put you at ease without you even knowing. She was especially talkative to Lightning, asking all about what she'd been up to, and even though Lightning never said more than a few words at a time, she didn't seem to mind either. That was one of the good things about Lightning. If she didn't like you, or want to talk to you, you knew about it pretty quick because that power inside her, that strength that came from sheer force of will, would well up and drive at you and suddenly the last place you wanted to be was near her.

"Well, there it is!" Yuffie grinned and pointed.

I looked over to where she was pointing. There was a right big house built flush up against the side of the mountain. It wasn't too tall or elegant like the big houses back east, but it had a strong, sturdy look to it, a weathered strength that seemed to fit just fine with the mountain beside it. I was impressed too, by the fact that it looked to be made almost entirely of stone. I could scarcely imagine the kind of effort and expense it would have taken to do that. Whoever this Vincent Valentine was, he must have had a powerful want for solitude to go to this much effort.

We took the path up to the house and I was glad to see that it was actually pretty well looked after. Someone, probably Yuffie, had also added a sign up front that said "Property of Yuffie" and the sight of it brought a ghost of a smile to Lightning's lips, along with much more visible signs of mirth from mother and father.

Right in front of the house was a small garden made up of hardy mountain plants. They poked up through the snow and were arranged in civilised hedges and bushes. Elsewhere, someone, again probably Yuffie, had made a couple of snowmen. However, unlike regular snowmen, both of them were holding broken old pistols.

I must have been staring, because I heard a laugh and then Yuffie clapped me over the shoulder.

"You like the snowmen?" Yuffie asked with a grin.

I flushed. "They're different." I paused. "Um… why are they holding guns?"

Yuffie laughed. "Because they're better that way. Honestly, Vinnie said the exact same thing. I hope you're not as stuffy as he is." She glanced up at the sky and grimaced. "It's getting pretty cloudy. There are some stables out back where Vinne and I keep our chocobos. You and your folks can store your things there for a spell."

I nodded and it wasn't long before we were all following Yuffie to the stables. Over the past fortnight, I'd learned the hard way that cloudy skies meant trouble.

The stables were built solid, just like the main house looked to be, and despite the rather cold outside look, they were plenty warm on the inside. There was a big open space to one side that my folks and I used to store the wagons and when that was done, I couldn't help but take a look at the stables where Yuffie and Vincent's chocobo's were.

"What do you think of them?" Yuffie asked. "They're all friendly except for Chaos," she pointed at a black chocobo with streaks of red along its flanks. "He's not too friendly except with a couple of people."

I nodded and walked along the stables. The first chocobo was a fine white, all sleek and elegant and as I walked by it crooned real friendly like and I couldn't help but slip it a treat or two. The next two stalls held a pair of stout grey-feathered chocobos that were even bigger than the black chocobos we used to pull our wagons. They watched me pretty closely, but they seemed friendly enough. The last stall was Chaos' and I have to admit that he scared me a little.

It wasn't just that he was big, and he was, but Chaos had a mean look to him, his eyes narrowing as I came close and his beak snapping the air only inches from me. I was glad that Yuffie had warned me about him, otherwise, I'd likely have gone up to pet him and lost a limb or two.

"Enough of that." I turned as Lightning came past me and stopped just shy of Chaos. The big chocobo just looked at her, those means eyes of his widening a little in recognition. Then, faster than I thought even a chocobo could move he darted forward to try and nip at her. But Lightning was faster still. She leaned to one side and as Chaos' head shot past her, she wrapped one arm firmly around his neck.

"I can see you haven't changed," Lightning said and I thought I could hear just the faintest trace of affection as she ran one hand along Chaos' neck. The chocobo let loose an indignant cry at her touch but quietened quickly until finally she let him go. When she did, I thought he might go for her again, but instead he just nuzzled against her hand. Behind me, I heard the bear cub that usually went with Lightning growl and I was glad that mother snatched him up before he could come and try and pick a fight with Chaos.

"Looks like he still remembers you," Yuffie said as she came over to pat Chaos on the head. The big, mean looking chocobo actually gave a little pleased croon as she stroked his feathers. "But it looks like that cub of yours is getting jealous."

Lightning looked over at the cub who was with mother. "About the cubs, we can't bring them with us and we were wondering if you and Vincent could take them in for a while until they're big enough to be on their own."

Yuffie shrugged. "Sure thing. I mean, I don't mind." She grinned. "Vinnie might, but that's never stopped me before, now has it?" Then she looked back at Chaos who had spotted the little cub and was now eyeing it very much like prey. "You should probably bring them with us to the house though."

The whole lot of us went to the main house. I have to admit, I was a little worried when I first walked in. The front room was stone all over, and it was poorly lit and cold into the bargain. Not exactly welcoming. But Yuffie just pulled us through a couple of doors into what looked to be a good-sized sitting room. The sitting room was the complete opposite of the front room. There was a fireplace with several logs in it merrily ablaze to one side, and the floor was covered with thick rugs and pelts. There were also several bookcases covered with books, and from the look on father's face, they must have been pretty good books at that. There were also tables and chairs and along one of the walls was a long table with flannel cakes and hot tea and coffee on it.

And then a voice came from the tall chair with its back to us, which was in front of the fireplace. "It's been a while, Lightning."

I saw Lightning's body tense just a little. "Vincent."

And then the owner of the house rose from the chair and turned to face us. Reflexively, I took a step back behind Lightning. It wasn't just because he was tall – and he was – nor was it because of the lithe, powerful strength that seemed to run through his frame, similar yet different to the carefully leashed energy that dwelled in Lightning. No, in that first instant of meeting, what had me stepping back were his eyes. I'd seen all kinds of eyes before, from the dull browns and blues that many people out West seemed to have, to the piercing, electric sapphire that Lightning had. But I'd never seen crimson eyes before, not once, and just looking at them now sent a shiver down my spine.

Yuffie must have seen my reaction, because she laughed and slung one arm about Vincent. That tall, imposing man actually staggered and before I knew it, she'd pulled him into a headlock. Almost immediately the fear faded, replaced instead by a laughter that I could barely contain. "Don't worry there, kid. Vinnie might seem scary, but he's all kinds of soft inside."

Vincent scowled and pried Yuffie off. "I apologise. It is not often that we have visitors." He paused and then continued when Yuffie elbowed him. "Welcome."

Lightning inclined her head. "You're looking well, Vincent."

Vincent nodded. "As are you." He gestured at the table where all the food was set. "How does dinner sound?"

"Why, the food and drink smell delicious," mother said. "But flannel cakes for dinner, is that a custom in the mountains?"

Vincent shrugged. "No. However, Yuffie insists on eating them as often as she can."

Yuffie had the decency to look a little ashamed. "I don't eat them that often."

Vincent looked at her. "We ate them for breakfast too."

We all laughed at that and sat down around the table and got stuck into the food. I tried eating as politely as I could. The last thing I wanted to do was offend the owner of the house, but then I saw Yuffie just pitching into the flannel cakes like there was no tomorrow, and despite my good intentions, it wasn't long before I ended up doing the same. Mother and father just sort of watched me with amusement, content to eat at a slower pace that better matched that of our host and Lightning's.

"Did Yuffie make these?" Lightning asked softly. I stopped at that and looked up from my plate. There was something in the utterly seriously way that Lightning asked the question that made me wonder if maybe I wasn't in for some trouble.

Vincent shook his head. "No, I did."

The corner of Lightning's lips curled up. "So, she still can't cook."

Vincent kind of chuckled. "Not to save her life."

Yuffie scowled and waved her mug of coffee at Vincent. Somehow she managed to keep from spilling it, though both mother and father were holding back their laughs at the action. "My cooking isn't that bad!"

"It is true that nobody died," Lightning said. "But I recall being scarcely able to move for a few days."

I blinked. Lightning was just about the toughest person I knew and for someone's cooking to do her in for a few days meant that cooking had to be downright awful and then some.

"I heard you had some trouble," Lightning said.

Both mother and father tensed a little, remembering what Yuffie had said after shooting at us, but Vincent just nodded. "Nothing we couldn't handle. More people are heading out West and not all of them are decent folks. They thought it would be a good idea to try and rob me." He inclined his head at a shelf over by the wall.

I looked over at the shelf he'd glanced at and had to hold back a gasp. There was a gun there, well kept and shining in the firelight. From the look of things, it was just the same as Lightning's. But more surprising than that was the sabre that was just beside it. There was no mistaking it. It was just like Lightning's, and just like the others back in the graveyard we'd passed a while ago.

"But speaking of trouble," Vincent said. "Why do you have bear cubs with you?" He cast a lazy look over at where the three bear cubs were curled up drowsily in front of the fireplace.

Mother looked at Lightning who just nodded. "Well, we ran into them a fortnight back and their mother was already dead. It seemed a shame to just leave them and Lightning thought you might be willing to take them in."

"Did she, now?" Vincent said and his eyes hardened a little as he looked at Lightning. Yet even though that look might have had even a right good soldier quaking in their boots, Lightning held his eyes, firm and even, blue on red, for one long, long moment.

"That's enough, Vinnie!" Yuffie cried. "I already said we'd take them in."

"What?" Vincent's eye twitched and I had to hold back a laugh at the look on his face. He seemed like he was doing everything in his power not to look annoyed in front of company but he was failing badly. "This is my house, Yuffie and you can't just –"

Yuffie just cut him off. "No, Vinnie, it's our house and I know darn well that you'd have said yes eventually. Oh sure, you'd have hemmed and hawed and made a great big fuss out of it, but in the end you'd have taken those cubs because inside you're actually a pretty decent fellow."

Vincent looked away and I could have sworn there was a faint flush across his cheeks. As it was, all the rest of us, even Lightning, were trying pretty hard not to laugh, especially when Yuffie continued to talk stern. Finally, Vincent had heard enough.

"Fine. We'll take them in." He looked at Lightning and cleared his throat. When he spoke, his face was calm again, his voice serious. "So, you looking to head out West?"

Lightning nodded. "These are the Estheims. I'm their guide out West." She took a sip of her coffee. "Can you tell me how the paths through the mountains are?"

Vincent's expression clouded. "The summer was warm this year, maybe too warm. A lot of the paths were washed out when the melt started." He paused. "But the path around Icicle Mountain was alright, last time I checked."

"Icicle Mountain?" father asked.

Vincent nodded. "It's about a week from here. The path around it is the quickest way through the mountains."

"Is it dangerous?" mother asked.

"Most years it's not too bad, but like I said, the melt was pretty bad this year. There are a lot of rivers that way, and some of them were looking pretty high. Still, the other paths were worse when I looked, most of them just washed away when the melt started." Vincent looked at Lightning. "You going to push ahead?"

Lightning took a moment to reply. "We can't stop here and if we wait too much longer, the weather will start getting cold again and those paths will freeze back up. It's dangerous, but I'll get them through it."

At the determination in her voice, I saw the uncertainty melt away from mother and father. When Lightning said something, she meant it and because of that they knew, just like I did, that no matter what trouble we got into, Lightning would get us through it just fine. It was who she was.

After that, we talked about other things for a good while. Yuffie was right curious about everything and Vincent had a keen interest in the goings on back east, especially the thinking of the government and what their plans were for the West. Sometime, during the conversation, the bear cubs crept over and Yuffie was more than happy to whisk them away for a little bit of fun.

Throughout the evening, I had my eyes on Lightning. There was a strange feel about her now. It wasn't that she was angry or jealous of Vincent and Yuffie, if anything she seemed real happy for them. But when she looked around the table, at the big grin on Yuffie's face and the hint of a smile on Vincent's, and at the smiles on the faces of my folks and me, she seemed a little sad. Well, not sad, so much as faintly wondering, as though the experience of just sitting around the dinner table with people she liked was something she could barely remember doing and maybe missed quite a bit.

After dinner, we were all feeling mighty full on good food and good company and thought it was about time to turn in for the day. Yuffie led us off to our rooms – one for mother and father, one for Lightning, and another one for me – before she went off to her own room. I wasn't too surprised to notice that she shared one with Vincent.

The room I got was real good. The bed was warm and cosy and the chance to sleep without worrying about the wind and cold for a night was really something. I slept pretty soundly for most of the night, a real bed tended to have that effect, but I woke up in a cold sweat from a dream about being on a train with mother. We were there together and then we were falling and falling…

I couldn't get back to sleep after that and I spent maybe half an hour just lying there thinking back over what I'd seen but also wishing I could forget it. After a while, my stomach started growling and the thought of those flannel cakes had me creeping back down to the sitting room to see if I could snare a couple. A full stomach always made it easier to sleep, or at least that's how it was for me.

The house was all quiet and I did my best to keep quiet too, not wanting to wake anyone else up. I reached the sitting room and then stopped. There were voices coming from underneath the door, along with the warm glow of firelight. Not sure whether I still had to have those flannel cakes, I eased the door open a fraction and listened.

"You seem happier." It was Lightning and from the way she sort of slurred her words a little, I figured she must have drunk a bit. That was odd, because she normally did her best to keep in good condition, and the only alcohol I could remember seeing in the sitting room were several tall bottles of whiskey.

"I am, even if I shouldn't be. Not after what I've done." It was Vincent and he gave a kind of halting laugh, like he wasn't used to laughing but wanted very much to be. "But Yuffie wouldn't take no for an answer."

"No, she wouldn't." Lightning sighed and I heard the sound of glass clinking on glass. "Even back then, she wouldn't listen to a word you said about just leaving you alone."

There was a pause then as both of them seemed content to just keep quiet, and I knew I should leave, but I couldn't drag myself away. I could hear another side of Lightning now, a side that let enough of the tiredness and sadness through to remind me that as invincible as she seemed sometimes, as proud and peerless as her talents appeared, she was human just like me.

"And you, Lightning, have you found your answer yet?" Vincent asked. I didn't understand what he meant by her 'answer', but the way he said it made it pretty clear that it was a big deal.

Lightning chuckled hollowly and I heard the soft splash of whiskey going into her glass before she took a big gulp of it. "What do you think?" There was a bitterness in her tone that had nothing to do with the sting of the whiskey.

"So that's a no, then." Vincent sighed.

Lightning's chair creaked. "Do you remember back when we were doing all those things? You used to ask me if it would be possible for us to find forgiveness. What do you think about that now?"

Vincent's voice was so soft that I had to strain to hear it. "The dead cannot forgive, Lightning. Only the living can do that." There was the slosh of more whiskey. "So no, I'm not sure if we'll ever find forgiveness. However, that doesn't mean there isn't something we can do." He paused. "We can still try to atone for what we've done."

"You're thinking of leaving the mountains then?" Lightning asked.

Vincent made chuckled. "Not this year, but maybe next year, once those cubs of yours are a bit bigger." His chair creaked. "I was thinking that it's about time I did something with myself. There are places out West in need of a decent man with a decent gun arm and while I don't pretend to be much a of a decent man, maybe with Yuffie at my side I might measure up. And my gun arm, well, that's always been more than decent."

"You've changed," Lightning murmured.

"You're not alone, you know," Vincent said. "You still have family that –"

"Don't," Lightning said softly and right then I would have given anything to see the look on her face, because her voice right then was so pained, so full of longing and hope long beaten down that I could almost have wept. "Just don't." I heard the slosh of yet more whiskey being poured and wondered just how much she was going to drink. "Do you still see them, Vincent? All those people we…" she trailed off as if the words were too horrible to say.

"I do." Vincent's voice wavered for a moment. "And sometimes I'm still afraid to go back to sleep in case I see them again, but it's getting better." He paused and it seemed to me like his next words were directed at Lightning. "It will get better."

"I went to see some of the others," Lightning said quietly. "I paid my respects. The place looks good. You've looked after it well."

There was a scrap of wood on stone as someone, Vincent, I guess, got up and walked around. "I make sure to go by every now and then. It is morbid, perhaps, but necessary."

I swallowed thickly. More and more now, it was getting easier to believe all those things that father had said about the Bodhum Cavalry. There was the way that Lightning and Vincent talked, about all that stuff they'd done that was too horrible for them to really say out loud, and that was so bad they had nightmares over it. What kinds of things could give people like Vincent and Lightning nightmares? I wasn't sure I ever wanted to find out.

Slowly, I backed away from the door. My initial desire to want to learn more about Lightning had faded, replaced instead by shame. Father had told me once that every decent person had the right to keep to themselves what they considered private and that trying to pry it out of them was one of the worst things someone could do. At the same time, I could feel a deep pain in my heart. It was odd, considering I hadn't known Lightning more than a couple of months, but I knew her well enough to see that she was a good person, the best person, maybe, that I'd ever met and she didn't deserve to be suffering like she was.

"How do I find my answer?" Lightning asked as I turned to leave.

And then I froze, because through the small gap between the edge of the door and the doorframe, Vincent was staring right at me. His crimson eyes seemed to burn right into my soul, to see past the boy that I was, straight through to the man that I would be one day. It was the same look Lightning had given me before, a look filled with a wisdom beyond even the adult knowing that my folks had, a look made out of the darkest parts of the night and the brightest parts of the dawn.

"Sometimes," Vincent said, his eyes never leaving me. "Sometimes, Lightning, you don't find your answer. Your answer finds you."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

I hadn't originally intended to have quite so much interaction between Lightning and Vincent, but when I was writing this, it seemed appropriate, so I decided to go with it. In the end, I think that was the right decision. In any case, here we have Hope becoming increasingly certain about what he does know about Lightning, even as that knowledge becomes increasingly grim. As for what exactly happened to Yuffie and Vincent, well, that's a story for another time. Also, Hope's dream is an allusion to the events of the game. Finally, for those curious, Chaos is one of the demons that was sealed into Vincent prior to Final Fantasy VII.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

We set out the next morning after a good breakfast of those filling flannel cakes and more fine tea and coffee. Vincent and Yuffie were also kind enough to give us some extra supplies and there was a gleam in mother's eyes that had me feeling that she'd managed to wrangle the recipe for those lovely flannel cakes out of Vincent.

We also said our goodbyes to the bear cubs. There were some sad moments then, even for father who'd come to like the bear cubs pretty decently, even if he hadn't been too fond of them at the start, at least not nearly as much as mother and Lightning. Mother actually cried a little when she was handing them over, but it soothed her plenty to see Yuffie take such a liking to them. As for Lightning, her cub hung on tight for near on fifteen minutes and it looked and sounded something pitiful when it realised that no matter how it tried, there was no way it would be coming with us. For her part, Lightning didn't show too much emotion, at least on her face, but her eyes lingered on the cub and her hands were slow and gentle as they smoothed through the cub's fur for the last time. The little thing only cheered up when Vincent bent down to pick it up and cradle it awkwardly in his arms. It was a funny sight, all right, seeing that tall man holding that little cub, but there was something fitting about Lightning's cub taking a liking to him.

The whole time though, I was afraid that Vincent might have told Lightning that he'd seen me listening in on them. But he didn't say anything about it and Lightning seemed normal enough, so I figured he must have kept it to himself. I had no idea why he'd done that, but I was mighty grateful just the same. Just before we set off, Vincent and Lightning spoke again, off to the side and by themselves, and I had a feeling that they were probably talking about the same things they talked about last night.

"I'm glad Lightning came up this way."

I turned and there was Yuffie standing just behind me, her grey eyes kind of misty as she watched Lightning and Vincent, although I wasn't game to point that out.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Kid, there are some burdens that people are meant to bear alone, but there are others that are better off shared." Yuffie was all serious now, and it was strange, and maybe even a little frightening to hear her like that. "People like Vincent and Lightning are strong, real strong, and so most times they like to just bear all their burdens alone, but sometimes it doesn't matter how strong you are. Some burdens are too big for anyone."

That I could understand. "Is that why you're helping Vincent?"

She grinned. "You're pretty sharp, kid. Fact is, I'm the only one who can put up with Vinnie for long spells." Then her expression turned serious again. "But you and your folks are doing just fine by Lightning. She won't show she's glad for it, and she definitely won't say it, but I think you are helping her."

"But how?" I wondered out loud. "We're not doing anything. She's the one leading us around."

"Maybe, but you've trusted her enough to let her lead you and kid, that's not nothing." Yuffie's eyes were a little sad, even though she was smiling again. "Trust is a funny thing. It doesn't really mean much until you lose it and once you do lose it, it's all sorts of hard to get back. That's why you and your folks giving her a chance means so much to her, even if it doesn't look like much to you."

"I guess." I couldn't say that I rightly understood just what Yuffie meant, but I could tell that it was real important.

Yuffie laughed and ruffled my hair. "I guess you're still a kid after all." She pushed me toward my folks. "Now get going there and look after everyone. I have a feeling you'll be a decent man someday."

And just like that we were back on the trail, heading deeper into the mountains.

The next few days, I spent most of my time puzzling over what Yuffie had said, but I still couldn't get things to fit just right in my mind. But whatever Lighting and Vincent had talked about just before we left, it must sure have been something, because a real change came over Lightning. When mother cried again about the cubs not being around, Lightning didn't make fun of her, but rather than just sitting by, she actually chatted with mother a little. It was plain to see that the chatting didn't come easy, but Lightning did try, bringing up some of the funny doings that the cubs had gotten up to, like the time one of them tried to pick a fight with father's hat.

It was odd to see mother cry, to be honest, because even when things got rough, she never cried or even really complained. But she had a soft spot for animals, especially one's she'd taken in. That was probably why father didn't want us to have pets. Pets didn't usually do too good out West and if we got some and they died, mother would be distraught. And neither father nor I could stand to see mother cry.

Lightning also made an effort with father and me, as well. She was more involved in teaching me to handle a gun now, and rather than just showing me what to do, she also explained a fair bit of the details about why things ought to be done this way or that. She even gave me a few stories about other people she'd seen doing things wrong and what had happened to them. I came to really love those moments when with just a few words, she'd paint a scene for me, her voice quiet and clipped, but each word chosen just right. She could have been a storyteller, I thought, except she seemed more the type to feature in stories rather than just tell them.

Lightning also talked with father about the land he had. Turns out, she'd been thereabouts before, even knew a couple of the neighbours that we were likely to have, although neighbours was an odd way to put things when the nearest one was about half a day's ride from our place out West.

And so a week rolled by. Lightning was definitely warmer to us now, although by almost any other person's standards she'd still be judged fair aloof and pretty stand-offish. All the same though, we'd gotten used to her enough to know the difference and we were grateful for it. At the same time, the inner steel inside her was ever present, that lethal force and power always ready to meet any threat. Once a bear came up on us, but Lightning was there to meet it with sabre and pistol. When it was all over and the bear was dead, she looked it over carefully, and I could have sworn she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was male. From what she'd told me, I figured it was because females usually raised the cubs, and while we'd left behind the cubs, we hadn't left behind our memories of them.

At the end of the week, we came up to Icicle Mountain. It was easy to see where the mountain got its name from. It was like a huge icicle stabbing right up into the guts of the sky and it was easily the biggest mountain that I'd ever seen. Its sides were all jagged and sharp, and almost all of it was covered with ice and snow. The only smooth parts were the places where great rivers of icy water had carved deep gouges into the granite-hard rock. Just looking at it made me feel a little ill and I was glad that we were only going to be going around it rather than over it.

"That's the path around the mountain," Lightning said when we stopped for a bit of a breather. The path wasn't too narrow, but that wasn't the problem.

"There are a some rivers cutting across it," father said and his face was pale as he said it. "Do you think we can make it across?"

Lightning's look was grim. "That's true, Bart, but the path isn't flooded out, at least. Those rivers might look bad, but they shouldn't be too deep. So long as we don't try anything fancy, we should be able to make it across."

We made pretty quick time along the path until we hit the first river. We stopped just in front of it and I think my stomach did flip flops just looking at the rushing water. It didn't help either that the wind was cold and fierce and that the combination of the wind and water set up a spray of icy mist that chilled me deeper than the bone. Lightning went up to the river and looked it over, gauging its depth and its speed. Finally, she came back to us and told us how we'd make it across.

She was the first one to go across on Velo and even with all her skill and toughness, it was pretty clear that the river wouldn't just let her across, she'd have to fight it every step of the way. The water came right up to Velo's flanks and when the speed of its flow brought it up against the chocobo, it splashed up onto her and only her iron will could have kept her from shivering, because that water had to have been close to freezing. She did this with a rope trailing behind her, tied to a rock on our side of the river, and when she reached the other side, she tied the other end of the rope to another rock. The purpose of the rope was to keep us from being swept off the side of the mountain if the river got us, and each of us had a loop of rope tied around it.

When it came time for us to cross, rather than ride on Goldie or Brownie, I rode up alongside mother on the wagon. That first crossing was something I'll never forget. The water pounded against the wagon and it was only the wagon's great weight that kept it steady as the chocobos, terrified, but loyal, plodded forward across the current. Each splash of water that curled up and splashed us had me clutching at mother like a little boy and from the look on father's face as he crossed, I could tell that he was as shaken up as me. After we made it across, we rested up a while and then moved onto the next river, repeating the whole thing.

The rivers were all pretty close together and Lightning said that it would be best to get through all in one day, rather than try to do things over two days. I agreed with her, even though mother thought some sleep might help. The problem was, the ice and snow above us didn't look too stable and I had a feeling they might give way at any moment. Nor did I think that we'd actually get much sleep, not if we knew we had more of those rivers to cross the next day.

Still, each crossing took its toll on all of us, and especially Lightning, who always took the worst of it. After the third, she was sagging a little in the saddle and shivering a bit, but never once did she complain. Instead, she pressed on grimly, her eyes blue steel as she dragged the rest of us along through sheer force of will. It was on the fourth, and final crossing that things went wrong.

We were about halfway across when there was a huge crash. For a moment, I could only look at the sky in bewilderment, for it sounded just like a great, pealing clap of thunder. Only there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it wasn't thunder. It was the sound of the bank of ice and snow above us giving way. I stared up in horror as it rushed down, the ice and snow mixing with the water until it was a wave of white death rumbling down toward us.

It hit and suddenly the whole world was whiteness and cold and pain. A piece of ice gashed me across the forehead and I cried out, only to half-drown as water rushed into my open mouth. Blindly, I turned away and looked for something, anything to hold on to as the thunder of the avalanche swallowed me whole. Somehow, I managed to catch a hold on the frame of the wagon as the whole of the wagon lurched to one side and then stopped, caught on the rope that Lightning had tied between the two sides of the river. Then there was a snap as the rope broke and the wagon began to lose ground. Through the haze of ice and snow and water, I realised that mother was gone.

"Mother!" I screamed, clawing the whiteness out of my way only to find that father was screaming for her too. Desperately, I looked around for something, anything that could tell me where she was, but there was nothing. Finally, I caught a flash of colour amidst all the ice and snow and water. It was mother and she was being pushed toward the edge of the mountain, to where the river plummeted for hundreds of feet to the next set of water-cut canyons.

Father moved to go after her, but he could hardly move, hardly even breathe really, and I wasn't much better.

"Don't, Bart!" Lightning yelled, voice powerful over the roar of the river. Father shot her a furious look and I saw him struggle even harder, but then I saw him stop and stare as a sudden change swept over Lightning.

The weariness that had been beaten into her by hours of pounding water and freezing wind seemed to melt away as she dug deep into the inexhaustible store of will that defined her. As always it answered and I could almost see the great, pulsing waves of power surge through her as her iron discipline and steely resolve forced her limbs to move again, her eyes to regain their lethal alertness and her wits to clear.

She looked first at father and me and then at mother to gauge the distance. There was still some rope not far from her, and she gathered it up quickly and tossed it in my direction. It took me a moment to understand why she'd thrown it to me and not to father. Simply put, there wasn't enough rope to reach him and still get to mother. It would have to be me. As quickly as I could, I started to get the rope tied around the frame of the wagon and though my fingers were almost frozen off, I forced them to obey. After all, it was mother and Lightning out there and I'd be dead and buried before I let them down in a fix like this.

With a final look at me, Lightning leapt into the maelstrom of ice and water. She was knocked about from side to side, from block of ice to block of ice, but somehow she managed to angle herself toward mother and just before the flow would have swept mother off the side of the mountain, Lightning got to her. The rope jerked taut as Lightning wrapped her arms around mother and the two of them hung there, just a few feet from a fall fit to kill anyone.

Most of the ice was gone now, but there were still some big chunks of it rushing through with the water. There was no way to dodge them, so Lightning turned so that she was in front of mother to take the worst of it. It was a terrible thing to watch. For almost ten minutes, Lightning took a beating as blocks of ice smashed into her and the freezing water rushed by. Finally, the river was almost back to normal and I gathered all the strength I had to pull the rope as Lightning staggered forward against the current back to the wagon. My hands were bleeding pretty fiercely by the end of it, but I didn't care so long as they were safe. When they got to the wagon, Lightning pushed mother up and then crawled up beside her.

"Go," Lightning croaked. "We still need to get across." And then more faintly, "You did good, Hope."

When we got across the river, father rushed over to us and pulled mother into a tight embrace. She was shivering awfully and it was clear we needed to get her out of her wet clothes and into something warm and dry. That went for all of us, actually, but for mother and Lightning most of all.

"Are you all right, Nora?" Lightning asked as she hopped off the wagon and staggered over to Velo to check that he was fine. She managed to reach the chocobo, but it was clear, as she leaned against him, that she wasn't really standing on her own strength anymore.

Mother just sort of gaped at Lightning. "I… I think so." Her teeth chattered and she groaned in pain as father looked her over for injuries, but really, she only had eyes for Lightning. "But, Lightning, what about you?"

Lightning turned from Vello and sort of swayed, but her jaw was set and she caught herself. "I'll be fine." But as she took a step forward, I saw the light, the brilliant blue fire that meant defiance to the very last, dim from her eyes and then she was falling. It was I who caught her just before she hit the ground.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

This chapter was one that I quite enjoyed writing. To be honest, I don't have many comments about this chapter other than that. Perhaps, you might consider the change in Lightning trite, but I think meeting Vincent and Yuffie was pivotal to that, and more than that, her warming up to the Estheims has been something that's been going on for the start. Quite often, it's easy to miss all the little changes until they add up to something big.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

To be honest, we were probably all panicking something awful as I held Lightning in my arms. It wasn't just that we were all cold and bruised and addle brained ourselves, no, it was the thought of Lightning – our Lightning – being hurt seemed nothing short of impossible. Not even those giant snakes or bears had ever really managed to keep her down, but now, looking at her as she laid, shivering and pale in my arms, she seemed so fragile and broken, and so very, very human.

"We need to get some place out of the wind," father muttered and it wasn't just for Lightning's sake either. We were all cold and wet. "Fast." He stumbled over to me and took Lightning from me. "Give her here, Hope."

As quickly as he could, he loaded Lightning up into his wagon and the lot of us go going. As I drove the wagon, mother was already shucking off her wet clothes and trying to get into something dryer. We found a place a few minutes out from the river where a large outcrop of rock blocked out the worst of the wind.

"Bart, can you get the wagons in order?" mother ordered as she took charge of things. Like most women who'd grown up out West, she'd tended her fair share of injuries and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that she knew more of what needed doing that father and I put together. "And Hope, I need you to get me some blankets and then get the fire started."

As father and I hurried off to get things done, mother got Lightning's wet clothes off her and did her best to get her dry. When I came back with blankets, she got Lightning bundled up nice and tight and the moment the fire was started she had Lightning close enough to get warm again.

"How bad is it?" father asked. He had only just changed out of his wet clothes and he was shivering pretty bad, but he seemed more concerned for Lightning.

Mother bit her lip. "It's bad, Bart." And I had to agree with her there. Lightning's pink hair was all limp and draped across her forehead and it was something real strange to be able to look at her without those icy blue eyes looking back at you. "The cold and wet were pretty bad for all of us, but it was worst for her, because she was always going first." She swallowed nervously. "But those blocks of ice and snow really did a number on her. I looked her over and I don't think there's anything broken, but her body's just one big pile of bruises. I can't imagine how she stayed conscious the whole time."

Father nodded grimly. "Give it to us straight, Nora, what are her chances?" He was, I felt, also asking about our chances, because I don't think any of us thought that we'd make it out of the mountains without her.

"I can't rightly say," mother replied. "If it were anyone else, I'd say they were finished." A slow smile came across her lips, bittersweet but hopefully. "But this is Lightning we're talking about and so I'd say her chances are mighty close to even."

"Is there anything else we can do?" father asked.

Mother shrugged helplessly. "All we can do now is keep her warm and dry." She swayed a little and I realised that now that she'd done all she could to help get Lightning out of immediate danger, the frantic surge of strength she'd drawn on was beginning to fade, and quickly too.

Father took mother gently into his arms. "You've done your best, Nora. Let's get you looked after now." He looked at me, eyes as serious as I'd ever seen them. "Watch Lightning, will you, Hope."

After that, father took mother off to one side and tended to her injuries as best he could. Glancing over, I could see that she was bruised pretty bad so I could barely even imagine what Lightning must look like. Once he'd looked after mother, he then had a look at the chocobos. Truth was, they'd actually fared quite a bit better than us. Velo had already been across the river when everything went bad and Brownie and Sunny had scampered across almost as soon as the ice started coming down. Only the black chocobos had been caught up in the whole mess, but they were big, heavy birds, built for long hours of hard labour and though they'd been bruised and battered, their feathers were thick and water proof, so once we got a fire started they dried off pretty quick and after that they looked just fine.

But Lightning was another matter. I watched her for almost the whole of that first night. Her brow was furrowed and she tossed and turned even though she was already exhausted. It didn't seem to matter either how hot the fire was or how many blankets we added, she kept right on shivering and her skin was cold as ice. Little by little, I got to thinking that maybe we were losing her, that the one time we were supposed to look after her instead of the other way around, we would let her down.

I fell asleep with my eyes on her, trying to will whatever strength I had into her. I don't know how long I slept, but when I woke, it was still night. Mother and father were both asleep and wrapped in a big pile of blankets. Even the chocobos had bundled together – all friends for the time being – in a bid to ease the cold. For a moment, I couldn't understand what had happened, but then I heard Lightning speak and I drove to my feet.

"Lightning!" I said, looking over to her. Then my heart fell. Her brows were furrowed and her hands were clenched into fists, but even though her eyes were open, they were glazed and unfocused. She was delirious, I realised, but I couldn't help but listen to what she was saying.

"No…" Lightning murmured, her voice filled with more emotion that I'd ever heard her use. "It wasn't supposed to be like this…" And then she was thrashing, tossing her blankets off like she was fighting someone real fierce, and I had to dart forward and hold her down before she hurt herself. If she'd been fit, I'd never have been able to hold her, and even half-dead and delirious, I could still barely manage it. "Damn you Nabaat!" She growled and for a second her eyes locked onto mine, and the fury, the raw, and terrible hate I saw in them nearly flung me off like a kick to the guts. "You can't do this!"

Somehow, I managed to get her back down, but then her voice was changing again, and the strength seemed to drain right out of her. At that moment, I realised that she wasn't really all that much bigger than me, and definitely wasn't the giant she sometimes seemed to be. "Serah…" she whimpered, and her voice was pained and pitiful and as close to broken as I could imagine. "I didn't mean to… it wasn't… I…" Her breath hitched. "Please…"

Then she started crying. Lightning, the strongest person I'd ever known, someone who could take blows that would have killed most people without even flinching or crying out, was weeping. And her weeping was all the more terrible for how silent it was. If she'd sobbed or wailed, then even in her delirious state it wouldn't have been so bad, but the whole time she was quiet, like she hurt so much, so deeply, and so utterly that no sound could find it way out of her, or break free of that awful, all encompassing sorrow.

And then she was struggling again, fighting to shove me off, even as the tears continued to run down her cheeks. "Let me go, Fang!" she screamed and this time she cried out loudly enough to wake mother and father who were on their feet in an instant. "Let me go!" Her voice dropped again, barely audible. "I don't care anymore… I just… just…"

"It's okay," I murmured, not sure what else to do and all too aware of mother and father behind me. "It's okay."

"I'm sorry," Lightning whispered so softly I had to strain to catch the words. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" She said the words again and again until finally, she passed out.

Mother and father looked at me, and not a one of us said a word. After all, what could we say?

We stayed there for three more days trying to get our strength back. The fact was, too, that without Lightning we didn't really know which way to go. We fed her as best we could, but she couldn't keep down much more than a light broth. She still talked sometimes and always it was about the same things. She would apologise, but never say what for, and she'd cry out names. Most often it was Serah or Fang, but sometimes she'd talk about Nabaat and then her thrashing would become something real painful just to watch.

Finally, on the third day, she seemed warmer and just after lunchtime she woke up.

"Where am I?" she croaked and I practically tripped over myself to get over to her, although mother and father weren't far behind.

"Lightning!" I shouted and before I knew it I was blubbering at her, asking all sorts of things and crying at the same time.

"Easy there," mother said as she eased me back and got father and I to stand away a little to give Lightning some air. "I need to check her."

Lightning looked at mother and struggled to rise, but even though she was awake for real now, the strength was still gone from her and it seemed to take all she had just to tilt her head a little.

"Just lie back," mother said. "You've had it pretty bad."

Lightning nodded. "What happened? The last thing I remember was grabbing hold of you, Nora."

Mother smiled warmly. "You saved me, Lightning, but you got banged up pretty bad. You've been out for three days."

"Three days?" Lightning's eyes flashed blue flame. "We need to get going."

Mother and father shared a look and then shook their heads. "Not just yet," mother said. "We're all a bit worse for wear and tough as you are, Lightning, I don't think you can even stand, now can you?"

Lightning sighed and I could sense some of the tension go out of her as she assessed the situation and, as unpleasant as it was, accepted it. "I guess I owe you Estheims some thanks."

Father shook his head and laughed. We all joined in his laughter, relieved to have Lightning back. "Owe us thanks? I figure this is just us paying you back one out of maybe a hundred that we owe you."

"How long until we get moving then, Nora?" Lightning asked.

Mother pursed her lips. "The rest of us are almost back to normal, but I think you'll need a few more days yet. But that's enough questions, you should get some rest."

We stayed for another four days. Lightning still hadn't recovered fully by then, but she was strong enough to get back in the saddle and after that there was nothing mother or father could say or do to delay things any longer. Still, as uneasy as we were about setting off with her still like that, Velo was real happy to have her back. The golden chocobo had fussed over the whole time she was out, and if it wasn't for one of us keeping an eye on him, I figure he'd have settled down right next to Lightning for the duration.

Out of respect, none of us had touched her things while she'd been out, even if we hadn't been entirely sure she'd make it and I was pretty sure that all of us had been awful tempted to take a peek. Still, when she saw that all her things were untouched, Lightning just nodded once to all of us, but I could tell how much it touched her and that she was mighty grateful.

That first day as we rode along, I kept a keen eye on Lightning, just like mother had told me too. Lightning was light and easy in the saddle, a bit ginger compared to her usual self, but still easily one of the best riders I'd ever seen. It helped, as well, that with her pistol at her side and that steel in her eyes, she looked more herself again. As we got going, she dropped back a little to ride alongside me.

"Nora tells me that I might have said a few things while I was out," Lightning said and I nearly fell out of my saddle. "She tells me you probably heard the most too, Hope. Is that true?"

I nodded slowly. "You said some stuff," I began. "Mentioned a couple of people too."

"I figured as much." Lightning had her hat swept low so I couldn't see her eyes. "You going to ask me about any of it, Hope?"

"No," I said finally. "It's your past, and I'm not saying it doesn't matter of anything… but… but you've always been so good to us and… and I guess… I guess I'm saying that I trust you." I wasn't sure where the words came from, but thinking back to what Yuffie had said and what I knew, they felt right. Judging from the way that the tension seemed to just ease out of Lightning's shoulders, I guessed they mustn't have been too bad. She pulled back her hat a little, and I could see there was a gentle smile on her face and she patted me just once on the shoulder.

"Thank you," she murmured and from the way she said it, I could tell that she was saying thanks for more than just helping to look after her, or even not asking about the past she found so painful.

For the rest of that day, I could feel the spot where she'd patted my shoulder. It felt warm even though the wind and chill made me feel cold everywhere else.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

So, Lightning survived. Honestly, I wasn't going to kill her off, because as much as this story is about Hope, it is about Lightning too. By now, her past should be starting to become clearer, certainly, there are more hints about it in this chapter. We're also getting closer to the end, although I can't say exactly how many more chapters that will be. One of the nice things about a journey story like this is that there is a clearly definable end.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

I thought that Lightning might slow our pace some since she still wasn't quite right from her injuries, but if anything she pushed us harder. At first, I couldn't understand why, especially when on some days, I saw her almost slumping in the saddle. But each time she noticed any of us looking at her, she seemed to dig deep into those vast reserves of will and she would straighten and sharpen right before our eyes. It was only after a ragged encounter with a wily mountain cat that I understood Lightning's reasons for pushing things along.

The battle turned out to be a hard one, and although Lightning had managed to avoid taking any more injuries, it was plain to see that her movements still weren't what they should be. It had taken her a good five minutes to dispatch the mountain cat, and that was with our help. Were she healthy, I was sure she'd have drilled the mountain cat with her first shot, well before the fight had any chance to drag out.

It was then I figured her reasoning. With her the way she was, she couldn't watch over us like she wanted to and going slower would have meant spending more time up in the mountains. And that meant giving trouble more time to find us. It might be punishing for her to keep up the pace, but slowing down would end up much worse in the long run. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if one of those big bears got a chance at us.

Still, by the end of the first week after we made it through the path around Icicle Mountain, her old strength was returning. It was there in the way she awakened before each of us again, rather than mother having to wake her up. It was there too in the tightly coiled deadliness in her body as she once again moved with measured, masterful ease in the saddle. It was a relief to see her back to the way she'd been, to the way she was meant to be. Seeing her all slowed down and weakened was like seeing an eagle with a broken wing – it was just wrong, and the world could only seem good and right when she was herself again, swift and deadly, and so very much alive.

"We've got another fortnight or so in the mountains," Lightning said as we stopped for the night. "But things should get easier from here. We're through the worst of it."

She was right about that. Over the past day or so, the path had widened plenty, and I'd noticed we were no longer going up, but instead going down, and not too sharply either, just little by little so that the descent wasn't so bad.

"What's after that?" I asked.

"After we get out of the mountains, we'll hit the Archelyte Steppe. After that, it's maybe another week and half to where your place should be." She slanted a look at father. "You given any thought to what kind of house you'll build, Bart?"

Father nodded. "I've given it a little thought." That was probably putting it lightly. Father was a planner right through, and I didn't doubt for a moment that he already had the whole thing planned out good and proper. "Want to take a look at what I've got in mind?"

And just like I'd thought, he did have everything planned. He had some plans for the house rolled up in some watertight canvas and he pulled them out so that Lightning could take a look at them. I saw her eyes narrow a fraction as she scanned the plans keenly and then her posture eased and she nodded in approval.

"These are good plans, Bart. It's simple what you've got planned and out West, simple is good. You've got most of the things you need with you in those wagons and there's plenty of good wood near where you plan to settle that you can use for the rest. The three of you should be able to have it up pretty quick." Lightning paused. "You come up with all this yourself?"

Father nodded. "I did some work on the railways back before Hope here was born, and after that I did some building work in the cities back east."

"You'll do well out West, I think," Lightning said. "All of you."

"What about you, Lightning? What are you going to do once we get out there?" I asked.

"Hope!" mother hissed and I realised belatedly that I'd broken some unspoken rule, one that I'd not really noticed until that moment. In all the talk we had about the future, Lightning only ever asked about what we would be doing, but never once did she speak about what she would do herself, nor had mother or father asked her. It was almost like she didn't have a future.

But Lightning simply shrugged. "I don't rightly know, Hope. I haven't given it much thought." Yet I could see from her eyes that what she'd said was a lie, that she'd really been giving the future all kinds of thought, but I simply nodded along with mother and father and let the matter drop.

Afterward, when Lightning had gone ahead to take a look at the lay of the land ahead, father took me aside.

"You've taken quite a liking to Lightning, haven't you, Hope?" he asked.

I looked away, feeling guilty for some reason. "So have you and mother."

He nodded. "That's true enough, Hope, but you've got to remember that she didn't promise to stay or anything. She only said she'd see us through this journey and that's all." His eyes were sad and his shoulders sort of slumped. "Sometimes, Hope, even if we want to someone to stay, it isn't right to ask, not when they're still looking for something. Staying might make her happy for a while, Hope, but you know it won't make her happy the way she needs to be."

I felt a lump rise in my throat, but did my best to speak. "But she's like family now, father. She's looked after us and… and…" 

He wrapped me up in his arms then, big and strong and warm. His voice in my ear was soft and gentle and even though I was crying, he didn't seem the least bit disappointed in me. "You're right, Hope, she's family, but family doesn't have to stay together to stay family. It doesn't matter where she is, or how long it is until we see her again after she leaves, she'll always be family. You remember that, Hope."

I pushed away and mother was there. I could see that she'd heard everything and that her eyes were misty too. "I feel the same way." She hugged me. "Just enjoy the time we have left together, Hope, that's all we can do."

And that's exactly what I did.

Those lost two weeks in the mountains were a good time for all of us, even with the cold and wind. The end of the journey was in sight and that had all of us feeling pretty good. It helped too, that we didn't really have many more encounters with the local wildlife, at least not any that we couldn't handle. With Lightning at full strength again, anything hungry enough to head our way was put down mighty fast.

We even got to see a flock of wild mountain chocobo. It was real nice to look at, all those white and grey-feathered birds running quickly along a mountain trail just below us. They were right quick too, even though the trail was narrow and still slick with ice and water. When they saw us, they all gave out a series of squawks and chirps and went along their way even faster. Another time, we ran into some tough old mountain goats, but mother, true to nature, was able to lure them over with some food and under Lightning's watchful eye, she even got friendly enough to pet them just like they were raised by people. The goats trailed us for a couple of day and it was amazing to see them scamper along the steep crags covered with ice and snow as easily as if they were running along flat ground.

On our last day in the mountains, I got quite the surprise.

"Happy birthday, Hope!" mother and father cried.

I shot up from my bedroll convinced that there was a giant bear or something come to kill us all. When I got my wits back, I could see that they were both laughing at me and even Lightning had a small smile on her lips.

"What's going on?" I mumbled, still half asleep and looking outside to where it was just going dawn.

"What kind of boy did I raise," father groused jokingly, "Who can't even remember his own birthday?"

"Oh." Truth was, I'd pretty much lost track of time during our time headed West, but now that I thought about it, it probably was about time for my birthday. "Thanks, I guess."

Mother laughed. "Come on, Hope, up you get. It's your birthday. We have to celebrate."

I got up and rather than the usual breakfast, I found myself look at a big pile of fresh flannel cakes and not far from that were several pots of fresh coffee and tea and even – I gasped – hot chocolate. The smell of it was almost enough to bring a tear to my eye and I must have stared at all of it pretty stupidly for a good long while until father put a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, Hope, lets eat."

We ate as we watched the sun rise and there was something about the light of it just ghosting all pink and gold over everyone's faces that made me just wish that I could remember this forever. Mother and father talked about the things they had planned and Lightning commented every now and then. After that, mother started talking about what I'd been like growing up and when father joined in with some embarrassing stories, I could scarcely keep from blushing the entire time. Lightning took it pretty well, and though she didn't laugh at me, she did give me one genuinely amused grin.

It was the best birthday I could remember having and when mother and father told me I'd be getting Sunny as my very own chocobo, I could barely wipe the grin off my face. I figured the gift must have come from Lightning too, because really, the tribe had given Sunny to her in the first place.

We got going after that, and the day's travel passed by real quick and it didn't seem all that long before we were bedding down for the night on a slope that overlooked the whole Archelyte Steppe. As the sun began to set, I just sat down on a rock and stared out across the Steppe. It was all there before me, all rolling hills and lush green, mixed in with great patches of flat, rich land that seemed just made for farming. The dusk light was faded gold then, the faded gold of darkness drawing near and dreams awakening, and in that light, I half-fancied that I could see right through to our place – our new place – just waiting for us to come and make a go of things.

"It's a good place, the Steppe."

I didn't turn, but I heard Lightning sit down not too far from me. Mother and father were off by the wagons setting things up for dinner, so right then it was just Lightning and I there, staring out over the Steppe.

"It looks pretty good," I agreed.

"Just the sort of place for a kid to grow up right inside," Lightning said and when I glanced over at her, I saw she wasn't talking to me, so much as talking to herself. And then she turned to face me and her eyes were gentle but firm, the fire inside her banked just enough to warm rather than burn. "You've got good folks, Hope, and I think you'll get along just fine." She took something from inside her coat and handed it to me. "Here, this is for you."

I took the bundle of cloth from her and unwrapped it. There was a knife inside, still in its sheathe, and as I pulled it free, I marvelled at the quality of it. It was a survival knife, the kind the people out West used for just about anything and everything. There were a few blemishes and scratches along it and some faint writing that I'd have a closer look at later, but none of that mattered. I knew well enough that she hadn't had time to pick up anything for me, which meant that this knife was hers and she was giving it to me. It could have been blunt and broken and I'd have loved it all the same.

I swallowed back a lump in my throat. "Thank you."

Lightning just nodded. "It seemed right." She stood. "Look after it, Hope, and it'll look after you. It's certainly looked after me."

That night, I could hardly sleep. Instead, my mind kept wandering back over the day and how great it had been, and also onto all the gifts I'd gotten. It was later, turning the knife over in my hands that I finally took the time to try and make out the worn and faded writing along one side of the blade. Best as I could tell it said: To Claire, from Serah.

Claire? Who was that? But Serah, that was a name I knew well, a name that Lightning had cried out when she'd been out of it, a name that she seemed to hold real precious. I put the knife away and wrapped it in its bundle of cloth. From tomorrow on, I'd wear it properly. If Lightning had trusted me enough to give me something that must be precious to her, I'd do my very best to be up to it.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

Here we have the last chapter of their trip through the mountains. The only thing left, really, is for them to reach their little spot out on the Archelyte Steppe. Having Hope's birthday happen during the trip through the mountains wasn't something I was entirely sure about, in fact, it wasn't something I'd considered much until I tallied up how long they'd been travelling, but I think it works decently enough.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are appreciated.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

The Steppe was a real pleasant place compared to the mountains. For one, I didn't have to look every time I took a step just to make sure the path wasn't about to collapse or slick with ice or water. The weather was better too. It was just going autumn and the winds were cool, instead of cold. Rather than tear at you like they did in the mountains, they rustled by, soft and easy, brushing by just right to make you shiver a little at the feel of them.

But despite this, the mood me and my folks had was still plenty sombre. We were only a week and a half out from where home would be, but Lightning would be leaving us. She might only have been with us a few months, but already I felt like I'd known her forever. All the friends I had back east, all the people I'd known, all of them seemed to fade before the brightness of her presence, like the stars in the night giving way to the dawn. It wasn't that she necessarily a better person than them. It was just that she was somehow more. More what I couldn't exactly say, but each time I looked at her, I just felt it. She was more.

I did my best to distract myself. I looked at everything, asking questions about the land and the animals around us. There were bison just like on the plains, but they were a little smaller and rangier than those ones. There were sheep too, big fluffy balls of wool that were just about the friendliest animals I'd ever seen. I even walked right up to one and pulled out a tuft of wool and all it did was bleat a little. Lightning said that once we'd got settled in, we should take a couple of them under our wing. All the sheep needed was some grass and water and their wool was tough and warm. It was plenty good for making clothes out of, and they had milk too. It tasted a little different from cow's milk, but Lightning said it would be just fine. Their meat was pretty tasty too, apparently.

I could see that the idea of taking some sheep in appealed to mother's sentimental side and to father's practical side, and even I had to admit that the thought of wrangling some sheep wasn't half bad. We also saw some chocobos. They were a light brown and were about the same size and build as Sunny. They wouldn't be able to pull heavy loads like the black chocobos could, but they'd do a fine job carting us around.

That did, however, bring up the one promise that Lightning hadn't kept just yet. And that was to teach mother and father to ride a chocobo properly. When I reminded her, she just nodded and the very next day, she got mother and father started on their lessons. That was a funny sight if ever I saw one. Father rode on Velo and even with the golden chocobo's easygoing nature, he had quite a tough time of it. He tried too hard to stay straight in the saddle, and fought too much to have total control instead of working with the chocobo. Mother, on the other hand, tried her hand at riding Brownie. Much to my surprise, she and Brownie got on just fine. She had a way with him that calmed him right down and it didn't hurt either, that she delighted in slipping him treats as often as she could. Father even joked that she'd end up making Brownie too fat to carry anyone.

Still, it wasn't too long before mother was just as good in the saddle as me, and she really gave it to father then and all he could do was just grin and bear it. Father did do a little better riding Sunny though, because she seemed happy enough to follow him along and trot at a pretty easy pace. She also didn't seem to want to stretch her legs the way the others did, and that suited father just fine.

About half a week in, we saw the first real forest. There were a couple of them scattered along the Steppe, and a big one right along its edge. It was also the first real forest I'd ever seen. The trees were huge, towering up as high as hills and clumped so close together that the light barely got between them to touch the ground. Lightning said they were okay to be in during the day, but during the night we'd best be careful. There were wolves and other things that came out during the night and unless we were ready for a fight, we'd best keep clear.

Knowing what father had planned for the house, Lightning also took the time to show father how to bring down the big trees properly. The trick to it was to try and avoid trying to cut the whole thing through at the trunk. More often than not that would mean cutting through several feet of hard wood, not an easy task if all you had was an axe or a saw. The key was to take out a wedge of the trunk so that tree's own weight would do the rest. There was an art to it and father watched keenly before he gave it a try himself. The wood itself was very tough, but surprisingly light, and father was pretty sure it would hold up real well if it was treated right.

From there we followed a river out West. It was a nice one, maybe thirty feet across, but not too deep or fast. There were fish in it too, a couple of big ones that Lightning warned me about, but mostly the fish were just the right kind for a boy looking to do a bit of fishing. Naturally, mother just had to ask for recipes and it didn't surprise me in the least that we had smoked salmon that first night. The only real thing about the river was that it wasn't too rare for animals to head on over for a drink. It was clear though that most times, they weren't interested in us so much as the water. A bear even wandered past once, had a drink not ten feet from us, and then headed back the way it came without so much as giving us a look.

And so the last few days of the journey went by and it wasn't long before we crested a hill just shy of noon and there, down before us, was the place that father had bought. It was a big plain with lush grass all over it and flowers here and there. The river we'd followed cut across it and there were some woods on one side and hills on the other. It was a good place, a beautiful place, really, and I saw both mother and father blink back tears as he pointed to a place not too far from the river where the house would be.

Just looking at it, I could already see the crops we'd plant and the fences we'd build for the livestock we'd keep. We would have some sheep, I thought, and maybe a few bison and chickens and other things. The chocobos could have a shed out back and the house would be a little rough on the outside, but just fine on the inside.

I looked over to the side and Lightning was staring out across the land, as well, but her eyes weren't on the sport that mother and father were looking at, they were looking out further West, to where our neighbours were. There was a misty look in her eyes and her hands were clenched into fists.

"It looks just the same," Lightning said softly. "Just like I remember it."

"You going to be leaving us, Lightning?" father asked softly.

She looked at him for a long moment. "The journey's not done just yet, Bart. I'll see you lot settled in a bit and then we'll see."

We bedded down that night with the wagons right where the house would be and the very next morning we got to work on getting the house up, because there was a lot to do and winter was only a few months away. The first thing to be done was to make sure the ground was flat and level and firm enough to hold up the house. That took a whole day, but father was always one for doing things right, and when it came to building a house, I figured that was probably the best way to do it.

After that, he had the plans out and it was up to us to rustle up the building materials. Like most houses out West, he planned to build it out of wood. The wood was tough and light, and stone was hard to get out West. It helped too, that if repairs were ever need, wood was much easier to fix up than stone. That was where the nearby woods came in, and for a whole week, all Lightning and father did was pick out trees, cut them down, and then use the chocobos to drag them back.

Mother and I weren't idle during this either. She'd already spotted a flock of sheep and had been doing her best to tame them and it wasn't all that long before we had a few of them round the wagons, right settled in as ours. I helped with that and with the other chores like gathering firewood and getting water. There were also some wild chickens about, and I made a good fool of myself getting them caught. I was also on the lookout for any critters that might mean trouble. Lightning had already done a few rounds, but I wanted to see lay of the land myself. I even found a good fishing spot not too far off, and we had fish for dinner a few times off what I caught.

The days passed and the house began to take shape as father and Lightning got the frame built up and then started to fill things out. It was tough work and I pitched in as best I could. It was a good thing we had father there, though, for he'd worked almost his whole life in building things and he knew all sorts of clever tricks to make the work a little easier. We were also lucky to have Lightning there. I thought, at first, that she might struggle with the building work, because for all that she was tough, there were different kinds of tough. But the toughness she had was born of something more than hard labour and long practice. It was integral to her, burned into her very being and forever a part of her, and it was ready to answer the call, no matter the task.

Things got to be that I got to thinking she might stay. There was a lightness in her now as she helped us build our new home. With each beam that went up, or floorboard that went down, it seemed that a bit of the shadow that had held her for so long was easing up. I didn't know it then, but I would learn later that it was the act of building, of creating rather than cutting down, or killing that brought the lightness to her. Yet every now and then, her eyes would turn to the West and then back east and there would be a look of sadness mixed with longing that made me somehow sure that she would leave us.

It was a full month and a half before the nearest of our neighbours visited us and by then the house was looking mighty good. The frame was in place and most of the wall were set in and the roof was almost done. It wasn't as big as our place back east, what with only a kitchen, a sitting room, a parlour and a bedroom for mother and father and another one for me, plus a bathroom, but all of it was built solidly and well. We were also getting started on a shed for the chocobos, but that had a bit to go yet before it was much to look at.

As always, Lightning was the first to sense the visitors coming. Her eyes looked to the West, and I followed her gaze. For a moment there was nothing, but then I saw the two figures coming toward us on a single chocobo. They were riding in pretty easy and that was a good thing, because I figured riding in fast might make people nervous, and nervous people might shoot first and ask later. She did a funny thing then, because rather than just go out to meet them, as I expected her to, she went out back to work on the chocobo shed.

When the visitors arrived, I saw that both of them were dark skinned. One of them was an older man. He looked about the same age as my father, and he had the weathered look of a man who'd seen a whole lot of life. His hair was a bit odd though, sort of puffing out in all directions when he took his hat off. Still, his smile was kind and easy, and he seemed friendly enough. The other rider was a kid, not more than maybe seven or eight, and by the looks of things he was the older man's son. As they dismounted, it didn't escape my notice that he had two guns, one on each side, or that both mother and father had their own weapons within easy reach.

"Howdy there," the older man said. "The name's Sazh Katzroy. I own the place just west of here. I saw your place going up when I was doing my rounds on the hills up there a few days ago and figured I might drop by and say hello, seeing as we're neighbours now and all that."

Father nodded and extended a hand. "Good to meet you. I'm Bartholomew Estheim, though most people like to make it Bart." He glanced at mother and me. "My wife, Nora, and my son, Hope."

Sazh laughed. "Nice to meet you folks and pardon me for not introducing my boy." The boy stepped behind Sazh's leg and Sazh laughed again. "This here is Dajh. He's just going on eight now, but he's a little shy. Fact is, he hasn't gotten much used to strangers."

Mother smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you Mr Katzroy, you and your son."

Sazh smiled back. "Just make it Sazh. Seems only fair."

"Oh and there's one more of us here," father said as Lightning came back around the corner of the house.

But he didn't need to introduce Lightning. Sazh took one look at her and almost fell over. When he had his bearings back, he all but ran to Lightning and I thought for a moment that he might reach out to hug her, but he stopped just short when her eyes rose to meet his.

"Lightning," Sazh said softly, and it was almost like he couldn't believe she was real.

"It's been a while, Sazh," Lightning said and there were meanings to those words that were much more than just the ones I knew. "You're looking good."

"I…" Sazh seemed to struggle for words and in the end he just settled for sticking out his hand. "It's nice to see you again."

They shook hands for a long time, and Sazh looked a little misty eyed. After that, Sazh and Dajh took a tour about our place and Sazh seemed mighty impressed by what Lightning and father had put together so far. He even offered to stay around for a few days and help. He said it was just the way to welcome new folks properly.

"Besides," he added with a laugh. "I'm in trouble with my missus and helping you out will be helping me out too."

Dajh laughed at that, and I figured that Sazh must get into trouble with his missus pretty often.

Later that night, with mother and father bedded down for the night, all of us reassured by the fact that Lightning clearly knew Sazh and would vouch for him, I woke up to the sounds of people talking. They weren't talking too loudly, but there was a mighty intensity to the words that made me want to listen in. So I stayed where I was in my bedroll and pretended like I was still asleep.

"You've got to tell her that you're back," Sazh was saying to Lightning. "She deserves to know."

Lightning had her back to Sazh, but I could see the tension in her frame, and for a moment, I thought that she might explode into motion. It seemed Sazh could see it too, because he stepped back.

"I can't go back yet," Lightning said. "Not yet. Besides, she made things plenty clear the last time."

"Damn it, Lightning, she was young and so were you. You both made mistakes. You can't just run from…" And then Sazh trailed off.

"Run from what Sazh?" Lgihtning said and then she whirled around and there was a cold and desperate fury mixed with self-loathing in her eyes. "You can't even say it, can you, Sazh?" She made a disgusted sound. "Even now, I can barely say it." She sagged. "I can't go back, not yet, and don't you even ask me to."

"Let me tell her at least," Sazh begged.

"Don't you dare!" Lightning growled and Sazh took a step back. "You promise me now, Sazh Katzroy, you promise me that you won't breathe a word to Serah or anyone who'll tell her!"

I stiffened and had to bite back a gasp as I heard the name. Serah? Serah must live near here. I wanted to leap out and ask what all of this was about, but as Lightning swept past my bedroll, I just closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep.

The next day, there was a resignation to Sazh, like he'd finally accepted that whatever it was he wanted to do, he couldn't, at least not yet. Lightning seemed tense again and I could feel those ties from the past pulling her away from us again.

Sazh stayed almost a week and he helped out plenty. It turned out that he was pretty good at putting things together or pulling them apart, and I could see that him and fathere were going to be good friends, just from the way they'd argue all friendly-like about the best way to do things. I could tell too, that mother was just dying to meet Sazh's missus, who I gathered was named Lahna or some such. I wanted too, to ask Lightning what was going on, but I knew better.

After Sazh left, we kept working on the house and Lightning seemed even more driven than before, almost as though she had to get things done before some deadline that only she knew about. If she'd done two men's work before, now she did four, and she would work until even that boundless will of hers could scarcely keep her standing. Even though the work must have exhausted her, she didn't sleep too well, and I heard her cry out a couple of times in her sleep and always it would be the names from before. Serah. Fang. Nabaat.

It wasn't much before winter, when we finally got the house done and the shed built up. We also had some pens for the sheep knocked together and father was already looking for the best way to divide the land up for crops. We wouldn't be able to plant anything till spring, but we had plenty of supplies to tide us over, not to mention the sheep we had and the bison and fish in the area. The river also meant that we didn't have to worry about water. We were looking just fine.

The day we moved into the house and got our things settled in, we made a day of it. Mother baked a cake and made all kinds of good food and we all pitched into it and it was like nothing in the world could go wrong. That night, we settled into our rooms, mother and father into theirs and me into mine. As for Lightning, when I went to bed, she was in the sitting room, sitting in one of the chairs she'd put together.

I woke up in the middle of the night from a dream about crystals and strange machines. Staring up into the darkness, I was suddenly seized by the fear that Lightning was gone and I got up and went to look for her. But she was right she'd been when I'd gone to bed, sitting in a chair watching the moon out beyond the windowpanes. There was that look on her face and it was too strong for her to even try and hide and I knew it, so rather than disturb her, I just stood there, doing my very best to burn everything about her into my mind.

"You're going to leave aren't you," I asked finally.

Lightning didn't turn from the window. "I am." I was glad for some reason that she hadn't tried to sugar coat it, or lie, or lead me wrong. She'd just told me straight up.

I didn't bother asking her why she was going to leave, because in that moment, I honestly didn't think that she could rightly tell me. It was a feeling she had, I realised, not something to be put so easily into words. So rather than ask her that, I asked her something I thought she could answer. "Tell me, Lightning, tell me what it's like here in winter."

She nodded slowly and I closed my eyes, knowing by her voice that she was there, that she hadn't left. That she had stayed. "It can get pretty cold here in winter, Hope, sometimes it even snows…" And as she spoke, I could hear the affection that subtly coloured each word, affection not just for me, but for my folks, as well, and maybe for another family that had never got the happy ending she had fought so very strongly to give us.

I fell asleep with her still talking, soft and gentle.

When I woke up, it was just before dawn and the chair beside me was empty. I knew then, somehow, even without looking through the rest of the house that Lightning was gone. Even so, I went from room to room and made such a ruckus that mother and father woke up.

"What's got into you, Hope?" father asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's Lightning," I shouted. "She's gone!"

And then, I ran out to the shed where the chocobos were and sure enough Velo was gone and Lightning's saddle roll too. Blindly, frantically, I got Sunny saddled up.

"What are you doing, Hope?" mother asked.

I got up onto Sunny. "I have to see her one last time. I have to!"

And then I was riding full pelt back along the path Lightning had taken us along even though I could hardly see through all my tears. I didn't want her to leave. Didn't she get it yet? We didn't care what she'd done or who she'd been. She was just Lightning to us, someone wholesome and caring and good. A bit quiet, sure, and aloof, but always there, always looking out for us, always protecting.

I don't know how long I rode, but all of a sudden she was there. She was unmistakable, sitting there astride Velo, the both of them silhouetted by the dawn at the top of a ridge, her red scarf billowing in the wind, her hat tilted just so, and her all loose and easy in the saddle. She must have seen me coming too, because she stopped and got off Velo.

"Hope," she said softly, when I practically threw myself at her. "I told you didn't I, that I couldn't stay, that I was going to leave."

I buried my face into her chest. "I don't care! I don't care! You've got to stay, you've just got to! I don't care and neither do mother and father, we don't care who you were or what you did! You're just fine… you're… you're the best person I ever knew and… and…"

She stroked my hair gently and rocked me a little and then eased back so that she could look me in the eye. "You and your folks are good people, Hope, and it means a lot to me, a whole lot, that you all think good of me." She looked past me, out to the Steppe around us and the dawn that lit all of it up in fragile shades of yellow and pink. "But there things that we can't undo, things so bad that maybe nothing we ever do in our whole life can ever make up for them." She closed her eyes and I saw a single tear trickle down her cheek. "I've done those kinds of things, Hope, bad, bad things, and maybe I won't ever be able to make up for them but I have to try, even if it means I can't ever stay one place for long." Her eyes opened and I saw the radiance inside her shine clear through, felt it brush against the core of who I was and maybe rub off on me a little. "But I do want to say thanks, Hope. I wandered a long time, never thinking that I could make things right, and like I said, maybe I can't, but it wasn't till I saw a decent man and the boy behind him come barging into a saloon looking for a guide that I even thought I might have a chance."

I sniffled miserably. "I'll miss you."

She nodded and hugged me to her once more. "I'll miss you too." She pulled away. "Thank you, Hope, and pass my thanks onto your mother and father too. Look after each other, give yourselves the happy ending that you deserve and that another family never got." She ruffled my hair. "Good bye, Hope."

And then she was up on Velo again and riding back east, headed back the way we'd come, each moment carrying her farther and farther away.

It was a long time before I found the strength to get back on Sunny and even then I found that I could scarcely hold myself upright in the saddle. When I finally got back home, mother and father were out front and there was someone there with them. For a moment, I thought that Lightning had come back and I felt my heart soar, but as I looked longer, I saw that I was wrong. The person with mother and father was shorter than Lightning, and more delicate of build, and her face was somehow softer.

She called herself Serah.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off of this.

I thought about splitting this chapter in two, but I just couldn't bear the thought of doing that, so I decided to leave it the way it is: a little bit long, but in one piece. Aside from that, I won't make too many other comments about this chapter, because really, I'm not sure what else to say. The story was always going to end this way and even though part of me wanted to be all sentimental and have Lightning stay, I knew that wouldn't be right.

Note, however, that this is not the last chapter. There is one more chapter to come.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

I looked at Serah for what felt like a long time until mother came and led me into the house. We all sat around the dinner table but no one said a thing. It was like no one knew where to begin. In the end it was Serah who started.

Her voice was soft and gentle, and there was a fragile sort of smile on her face that looked like it could shatter at any moment. "I missed her." She shook her head slowly and looked down at the dinner table. "I came here as fast as I could, and I still missed her."

Mother offered her a cup of coffee. "Why don't you start from the beginning, Serah?"

Serah nodded and took in a deep breath and then I saw her gather herself up. She was plenty slim, a real delicate looking lady, but right that moment as she forced herself to calm, I saw shades of Lightning in her, even if her eyes weren't quite the same, electric blue, and her hair wasn't quite the same pink.

"My name is Serah and I'm pretty sure that the woman who guided you out here was my sister, Claire."

"Claire?" I whispered softly. There was something not quite right about the way the name sounded. It felt too soft, too fragile, for the woman that had seen us safely West. Glancing down, I saw the survival knife in its sheathe on my belt and laid it on the table.

Serah's eyes widened. "That's… that's… that's the knife I gave her when she turned seventeen." She looked at me and her eyes were filled with a mournful sort of wondering. "She must have really cared a lot about you if she gave you that."

I felt that lump rise in my throat again and forced myself to nod. "Can you tell me about her?" I asked softly. "I mean… she didn't say too much about her past and I was wondering…"

For a long time, Serah didn't say a thing. Instead, she just looked at mother and father and me and at the place around us. I had a feeling that even though she was looking right at us, she was seeing Lightning. Finally, she nodded, and as she did, she reached across the table and picked up the knife and placed it back in my hand. Haltingly, she smiled. "I think… I think Claire would have wanted me to."

And so she told us about what things had been like growing up for her and Lightning. There were parts of what she said that were just like I'd expected, and there were others that were different. There were parts of it when I wanted to cry too, but each time I felt the tears prickle at my eyes, I pictured Lightning in my head, just the way I'd seen her that last time. I could almost feel her arms around me, gentle but strong, as the dawn light spilled across her face. Just thinking of that gave me the strength to blink back my tears and hear the story straight. It was the least I could do for Lightning, and maybe, I figured, the only thing I could do now.

Serah was three years younger than Lightning. The two of them had moved out West with their parents when Serah was just seven years old. They took just about the same route that Lightning had taken us along, and if our journey had been tough, then theirs had been even tougher. But their mother and father had been mighty hardy folks and it helped too that back then the tribes were friendlier. That was probably how Lightning met Vanille.

After they settled out here, things were good for a while. Then their father got real sick. It wasn't something that they could fix themselves and so their mother tried to make the journey back over the mountains to get help. From what Serah said, Vanille's tribe liked them well enough that they would have helped. Problem was, their mother never made it over the mountains and they never saw her again. Their father died too, a couple of months after their mother left, and then it was just the two of them. Serah had been all of twelve then and Lightning only fifteen.

Mother was crying at this point and even father's eyes were looking mighty misty. Me, I just sat there, heart aching real bad and thinking about what it must have been like to not only have no parents, but also a sister to look after. Just the thought it made me feel like I was drowning or choking and I wondered again at how strong Lightning must have been to carry that burden on shoulders that at fifteen couldn't have been nearly broad enough.

Serah's voice shook a little as she kept on talking and as much as the words seemed to hurt her, I could tell that they were words that she'd been wanting to speak for a long time. They were the kind of words that had a way of eating you up inside if left too long, the kind of words that I'd blurted out to Lightning just before she'd gone.

Anyway, even after their parents died, Lightning hadn't wanted to abandon their place. Maybe it was the memories, or maybe it was just the thought of giving up, or maybe she realised that two kids would never be able to make the journey back east. So she did the only thing she could. She got tougher, tough enough to give their place a fighting chance, tough enough that Serah could stay soft. That must have been plenty tough too, because their place had been what father wanted to make ours: a set up with some farming mixed with animal rearing. Serah had done her best to help, but she was honest enough to admit that Lightning did most of it.

And things had been good – or at least as good as they could be with just the two of them – until the war came. They stayed out of it as best they could, but there were tribes that didn't like the settlers much and back in those days their place was pretty far out from others. In the end, Lightning had to fight and there was a look of mourning on Serah's face as she talked about how quickly Lightning got good at killing anyone who came around looking to give them trouble.

But that was as far as Lightning would go. She never rode the range looking for trouble, and Serah said she didn't even think of joining the army. She just wanted to keep them safe, to hold on to what little happiness they had left for themselves that others seemed to want to take. But then that call from the government came and Lightning had no choice but to fight, not if they wanted to keep their place. So she joined up. She was seventeen and a half when joined and twenty-one when she came back, but those three and a half years had changed her.

Serah cried a little as she talked about how Lightning had come back all hard inside. And it wasn't just the hardness that came from killing – it was something worse, something so bad that she wouldn't talk about it, not even to Serah. It didn't help either when Lightning met the help that Serah had hired to keep their place in order while Lightning was off fighting in the war. That help had been a man called Snow Villiers, and from how Serah talked about him, he seemed a decent enough fellow, but Lightning had never liked him, had liked him even less, Serah said, when she found out that he hadn't been much involved in the war.

And then Lightning found out that Serah wanted to marry Snow. She hated him then.

It was around then, Serah said, that things really got bad. Lightning would have nightmares, bad ones, and not even Snow, who was supposed to be a pretty big fellow, could keep a hand on her once those nightmares got a hold of her. There were times too, when Lightning would just stare out at the mountains, not saying a thing and there would be a look in her eyes, a look so haunted, so weary, so soul-tired and bedraggled that Serah could have sworn that she already had one foot in the grave. Serah tried to talk to Lightning, Snow too, but nothing they said seemed to reach her or even ease the pain a little.

There was a helplessness in Serah's voice as she talked about these things that sent a shiver up my spine. I wanted to get angry at her, to ask her why she'd hadn't helped Lightning more, yet I had seen that look on Lightning's face myself and just like Serah, I hadn't been able to do a thing. Not one single thing.

And then one day Lightning just up and left.

It was just going on dusk by then, but when Serah finished, neither my folks nor me had the heart to get dinner started. Instead, we just sat around that dinner table staring at the wood and sipping cold coffee because really, after a story like that, what else could you do? Truth was, it was almost the story I'd come to expect from what I'd managed to put together during our journey West. Still, that didn't make hearing it any easier.

Serah stayed a few days before her husband Snow came over to bring her home. Riding with him was a little girl. She was Snow and Serah's daughter and her name was Claire. They invited me to go back with them, maybe spend a few days over at their place and though there was some work to be done around our place, father let me go. It was one of the kindest things he'd ever done for me and made me love him all the more.

When we got to Snow and Serah's place, they showed me Lightning's uniform. It was pressed neatly and laid out almost as though Serah expected Lightning to just walk back in and wear it any day now. There were medals beside it too, lots of them, and in my mind's eyes I could see a younger Lightning with that look of anguish on her face as she thought about things too horrible to say out loud, and then I could see her getting those medals, could see some nameless, faceless government official pinning them onto her like all those unspoken, horrible things were something to be proud of. I almost had to leave after that.

But some of that weight on my soul lifted as Serah showed me around the place. I could see Lightning's handiwork everywhere. There were repairs to the house and fences and sheds, repairs that had to be years old. Some of them were a bit rough, just the kind a kid might make, but they were good and they'd held solid and firm and right all through the long years. I ran my hands along one of the repairs to the house and I could almost feel Lightning's hand beside mine, strong and sure and just like I remembered. From the smile on Serah's face as she placed her hand just next to mine, I could tell she felt it too.

X X X

It's been almost four years now since that day that Lightning left us. Little Claire's grown up to be quite a handful and even I have a hard time keeping up with her when she drops by our place with her folks. It's funny though. She's not soft and gentle in the way that Serah is or even kind of laid-back the way Snow is. Instead, there's this energy in her, almost like electricity, that can't help but make me think of her namesake.

I've made good friends with Snow and Serah too, even though there's a part of me that blames them a little for Lightning leaving. But then I think of Lightning and how she was always so good to my folks and me and I realise that she wouldn't want it that way. So every so often, when I have the chance, I head over to their place. It's only a few days from where me and my folks live, and with a kid like Claire about, I figure they don't mind an extra pair of hands.

Each year, more folks make it out here and there's been talk lately of a starting a settler's association or some such. Father's been making plenty of noise about it and Sazh too, although from what mother says, that might just be his wife pushing him along in that bossy way of hers. As for mother, she's gotten to be right good friends with just about everyone out here, and she's gotten quite a garden started too, one that those sheep of hers eye a little too keenly sometimes.

The folks who come in each season also bring some funny talk with them. Some of them say they were guided out West by someone with pink hair and a red scarf, someone as fast with a gun as they've ever seen and as good with a sabre as there has ever been. They say she leads them through the mountains and then turns back, almost like the Steppe is some place she can't go back to, at least, not yet. There's talk too of army folks, the ones who were involved in the war with the tribes, being hog-tied and dumped in town squares with all sorts of things written about what they had people do in the war, about what they said it was okay to do.

Most folks say that the person leading people through the mountains is a gunslinger who goes by the name of Lightning. As for the one hunting down those army people, folks say it's somebody called Claire Farron, a lieutenant who won all sorts of medals during the war before she just up and disappeared, some say after shooting her commanding officer, a Captain Jihl Nabaat.

Only a few people, including me, know that both these people, Lightning and Claire, are really the same person. Sometimes, I get a little sad thinking about Lightning doing all of this on her own. It can get mighty cold sometimes at night, especially when you're all alone, and I can't help but wonder if maybe there are nights when she's so cold that the only thing keeping her going is the thought that maybe, finally, she's got the chance to make things right. But another part of me knows that this is the way it has to be, maybe the only way it can be. Most of all though, when I hear those new folks coming in with their stories, I think back four years ago to when a family got a second chance out West because a woman named Lightning had the strength and the kindness in her to give it to them. To give them the second chance another family never had.

Serah calls her Claire, but to me she will always be Lightning. Sometimes, when a storm rolls in from the mountains and that white flash fills the night amidst the boom of thunder, I think of her. I think of her and I remember. I remember how swift and terrible she was when she was fighting, how beautiful and purely deadly, and I remember how kind she was to a kid and his folks, how gentle and caring. She was always there when I needed her and even now, just the memory of her can make me brave when I'm scared, can drag me to my feet when I've fallen.

The fact is, I don't know if I'll ever see her again, but I guess the greatest gift she ever gave me wasn't the knife I carry with me always, no, it was the strength to know that even if I never see her again, I'll be just fine.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making a dime off this.

So, this is it, the last chapter. To be honest, I'm still not sure about how I feel about this chapter. I don't know if this is the best way to end things, but it felt right to end them here. It felt right, as well, to have Hope have the final say. This story has been told through his eyes and it is about him just as much as it is about Lightning. For those of you wondering if there will be a sequel (is this even really good enough to merit one?), I don't know. My only disappointment while writing this is that I wasn't able to bring Fang into the story as a character in her own right. However, I felt that the story was better this way, with what Fang was to Lightning left out just as much as the exact truth of what went on during the war. Sometimes, we can't know everything, and sometimes the imagination is a far better author than any writer could ever hope to be.

Finally, there will be an extended author's note after this (i.e., the next chapter will be an extended author's note). Think of it as a kind of 'behind the scenes' look at the writing of this story. I don't know how many people will find it interesting, but as a reader, I've always been curious to know what was going on in the author's mind. I will also be including a teaser at the end of the extended author's notes. About what exactly, I'll leave up to your imagination.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	18. Chapter 18

**Extended Author's Notes**

Perhaps I should begin by apologising to anyone who clicked on this expecting another chapter of the story. Unfortunately, you won't be getting another chapter of the story here. Instead, I'll be giving you a glimpse of what was going through my mind during the writing of this story. Of course, you don't have to read this chapter. In fact, I'm probably being quite pretentious writing it, but as a reader I was always quite curious about what was going on in the author's mind. As promised there is a teaser at the end of these notes, so if you want then you could skip to that.

Of the stories that I've been working on recently, the two that I've spent the most time on are Stetsons and Fal'Cie and Headed West. However, although Stetsons and Fal'Cie was posted first, it was not actually the first Western themed FF XIII story that I had in mind. As a matter of fact, the general idea behind Headed West was actually the inspiration for Stetsons and Fal'Cie. It was a matter of certain real life circumstances that led to Stetsons and Fal'Cie going up first, while Headed West got put on the back burner for a while.

Recently, however, I went overseas for a month for a holiday. I realised then, that I would have a great deal more free time than normal, so I decided that rather than just lying around, I could spend that time writing. To make things interesting, I decided to set myself a challenge, of sorts. First, I wanted to see if I could get a decent story written up inside a month. Indeed, I really wanted to participate in last year's NaNoWriMo, but due to circumstances, found myself unable to do so.

Headed West also represented another first for me. Stetsons and Fal'Cie was actually my first attempt to write anything with a Western theme (I tend to find myself more comfortable writing fantasy or science fiction). However, Headed West was my first attempt to write an extended piece in first person. There are a number of reasons for this, but really, the main reason is that writing in first person is a weakness of mine, as I tend to gravitate toward the third person. Headed West was my way of trying to address a weakness of mine while having fun. After all, ignoring your weaknesses often ends up with them getting shoved in your face, and although I don't consider myself to be particularly attractive, the thought of having the first person shoved into my face sounds both fairly painful and oddly disturbing.

To put things simply, the end result of writing during my holiday produced Headed West along with a fair number of chapters from Stetsons and Fal'Cie. I started Headed West on the 21st of December 2010 in a serviced apartment overlooking Manila and finished it on the 18th of January 2011 in the same serviced apartment. Along the way, I worked on it through New Year's celebrations involving copious amounts of alcohol, fireworks, and karaoke, and a festival involving parades and drums at all hours of the day (and night). I also spent a lot of time thinking about the story while on a flat-bottomed boat going between islands that moved in ways that no seaworthy vessel should move (not a pleasant experience, I assure you, especially when one family next to me started praying – trust me, the way the boat was rolling about, they were justified).

When writing Headed West, each chapter was written in two stages. In the first stage, I wrote up a draft. Now the thing about writing up the draft was that rather than worrying about everything being perfect, I just wrote. It didn't matter how badly the chapter was going, or how poorly I thought I was expressing myself. I just wrote. In the end, it is much, much easier to fix a finished product than it is to come up with something new. The whole point of just writing the draft regardless of quality is that it let me get my ideas down on paper. Once I'd gotten the draft written up, I went back and did a full revision. For some of the chapters, this was a full rewrite, but for others (almost all of them, actually) it was more a case of fleshing out the ideas, improving the expression, and fixing up the grammar.

As an aside, I think one of the traps that's very easy to fall into is to try and make each chapter perfect as you go along. What often happens then, is that you can spend hours just getting the first page or so up only to get stuck a few pages in when you realise that the plot you want to run with doesn't actually make sense. By just trying to get the ideas down on paper (or onto your computer) regardless of how well its written, you have the chance to see which of your ideas is heading in the right direction and which are dead ends. Once you have the overall picture (i.e., the draft), then its usually a lot easier to go back and fix things up because you already know where it is you want to go, and which parts are important.

As for the plot of the story, I will admit right up front, that I didn't plan the entire thing beforehand. In fact, I made each chapter up pretty much as I went along. Now this is clearly something that some people will not like doing and that's fine. Extensive plotting beforehand obviously has its advantages, but at the same time, some people (e.g., me) find it easier to just go with the flow before going back and revising to make sure that everything fits together. If you are going to just go along with the flow, then it definitely does help if you're able to keep the whole plot together in your head and update it in your mind as you go along. I would also strongly recommend just jotting down any ideas you might have, even if you're not sure that they'll fit into the overall plot. Indeed, some of my favourite scenes (e.g., Lightning teaching Hope how to ride a chocobo) were things that I didn't initially think I would include, but jotted down anyway.

However, while I didn't plan the whole story out beforehand, I did start off with a very good idea of what kind of story I wanted. I wanted a journey story and that meant that even if I didn't know what would be happening in the middle, I already knew what would be happening at the start and what would be happening at the end. For the chapters in the middle, I really was pretty much making things up as I was going along.

With regards to the contrast between Stetsons and Fal'Cie and Headed West, I think it's fair to say that the latter has a much more serious tone. Part of that is due to what inspired Headed West (more on that in a second), but part of it is also just because I happen to enjoy humour, and in particular, I enjoy alternating between writing things that are humorous and things that are more serious. Indeed, writing only serious stories would probably drive me insane, which is why the stories I've posted up so far tend to veer between the serious and the humorous.

Now, onto the big question: what inspired Headed West? It may surprise some of you, but I don't consider myself to be a particularly big fan of Westerns. Rather, I'm the kind of person who will read or watch just about anything. Indeed, it's a long running joke between me and my family that I have the most useless mutant power in the world: the ability to identify any movie after watching less than 10 seconds of it.

However, even thought I don't particularly favour Western novels, one of my favourite novels of all time is a Western. The novel I'm talking about is "Shane" by Jack Schaefer. To put it simply, "Shane" is one of the best novels that I've ever read, and this is despite the fact that it's really quite short. If you haven't read it, I would definitely recommend giving it a go, I think you'll quite like it.

Without giving too much of the plot away, "Shane" is told through eyes a boy named Bob who lives with his parents, Joe and Martha. A stranger by the name of Shane comes riding in one day and for various reasons ends up working for Joe on the family farm. For a while things are good, but trouble comes when Fletcher, the owner of a big ranch nearby, starts to put pressure on the homesteaders (Bob's family and some others) to try and get them to move out so that he'll have the whole rang for himself. In the end, it's up to Shane to settle things.

What I found so interesting about the story was the interaction between Shane and the family. Even Bob, who isn't exactly worldly, could tell that Shane had been in all kinds of trouble. But Joe, Bob's father, was still willing to give Shane a chance, because he saw that deep down inside where it mattered most, Shane was a good man, maybe the best man he'd ever met.

While I don't pretend to write with anywhere near the skill of Jack Schaefer, I will say that Headed West has very similar themes. Like Shane, Headed West is, on some level, a coming of age story. Hope learns to see the world more broadly, perhaps more truly, than he ever has before. At the same time, Headed West is a story about second chances, not just for Hope and his family, but for Lightning too.

Lightning is, without a doubt, based on the iconic hero figure common to Western novels. She has a dark past and seems, at first glance, cold, and perhaps cruel. Yet beneath that, at the very centre of her being, is a sense of common decency, of goodness and honour that even her past cannot erase. It is this basic decency that drives her to protect Hope and his family, to give them the second chance she never had.

The idea of the war against the tribes was modelled on another period of American history. In particular, it was modelled after the conflicts between settlers and Native Americans during the colonial period of the United States. I also kept thinking about the American Civil War when I was thinking about Lightning's past. The reason is, I kept imagining Lightning as a Confederate soldier fighting to protect her home and family even though she abhors slavery. Of course, that's not what happened in Headed West, but it was something that kept popping into my head. Indeed, as I'm writing this, I'm picturing Lightning in a Confederate uniform and Fang alongside her in a Union uniform.

So there you have it, the story behind the story. As a final point, I would like, once again, to thank you, the readers. Your support has been absolutely wonderful and without it, I'd probably be lying in a gutter somewhere broken and dispirited and being gnawed by a gang of mangy cats… okay, that's probably not true (there is a distinct dearth of mangy cats where I live), but you get the idea. You guys do matter and your feedback is very much appreciated. As a gift, I'd like to present the following teaser.

X X X

I heard the wolves before I saw them and for a moment I couldn't quite believe that they were there. They'd gotten bolder over the last couple of nights. One of them had even broken into the sheep's pen and taken a few of them, but I never thought they'd come out during the day. But once I heard that howl and heard those growls, I knew the wolves were there.

And out there with them by the sheep pen was mother. I grabbed my knife, pistol, and a shotgun and practically tripped out the front door, I was going so fast. They were already halfway to her by then, and I fired as I ran. The shotgun roared in my hands and I bit back a cry at the sudden sharp recoil.

One of the wolves was flung back, its grey pelt splattered with red. Mother screamed and I fired again, wildly this time, but still managing to catch another wolf in the side. The other wolves split in two, half of them going for mother, and half of them headed my way. There was a cry from the door behind me and I knew that father was there.

"Nora!" father screamed and then there was another roar as he fired his shotgun at the wolves.

Mother finally broke out of her fright and half fell, half scrambled to turn and run back toward the house. The wolves were right on her heels by then, and I wanted nothing more than to go to her and help, but the wolves were rounding on me too, and drawing my pistol I had no choice but to fire and hope that I could discourage them. There were more wolves than I had bullets in my gun, and I doubted they'd give me the chance to reload.

I hit the first two easy enough, but then they closed in and my hands were shaking so bad that I could barely aim. For a moment, I panicked, but then I heard a voice in my head, cool and calm, and deadly. It was the same voice I'd heard these past four years whenever I was in trouble, that same voice that had gotten me out of more fixes than I cared to count. It was Lightning's voice and right now she was telling me to calm my nerves and take my time, to make each shot count.

So I did my best to stop the shaking in my hands, and waited till the wolves were almost on me, so close that I could hardly miss. And then I fired. And fired. And fired until the gun clicked empty. The wolves went down around me, not all dead, but definitely injured, and I fumbled for my knife. It was a good knife, the one Lightning had given me, but somehow staring down the jaws of a wolf it didn't seem nearly good enough.

But then I didn't have time to think anymore, because one of the wolves was on me, pawing and biting and it was all I could do to wedge one hand up under its head and push to keep it from ripping out my throat. I lashed out blindly with the knife, wildly, and felt it cut into flesh and then a shudder ran through the blade as it bit into bone. Yanking the knife back and forth, I tasted blood, my own or the wolf's, I wasn't sure, but didn't care. I was screaming, yelling, or maybe I wasn't saying a thing, but I kept my hold on the knife and stabbed and stabbed until the wolf wasn't moving anymore.

I shoved it off and rolled away. My eyes saw mother had somehow made it to the house, but only because the others had heard the cries of the wolf I'd killed and were now turning to face me. They ran toward me and I could tell right then, that father couldn't get a shot off, not with me so close to them, and I staggered up to my feet, the knife in hand. At least mother and father were safe…

And then one of the wolves was flying sideways, a spear driven right through it. My eyes flicked from the wolves to the rider tearing toward us. She was riding a sleek brown chocobo and her arm was still outstretched in the act of throwing the spear. It was an impossible throw – well over thirty yards – but she'd made it look easy.

She was in amongst the wolves in a flash, her chocobo kicking at all sides, as she drew a second spear and leapt out of the saddle. She was a blur of motion with long raven hair and eyes a brilliant, shining green that seemed so utterly alive that for a moment I couldn't take my eyes off her.

The wolves reeled away from her and I couldn't help but compare her to Lightning. Lightning had been fast and sure and precise, much like her namesake. This woman though, was like a force of nature, a typhoon or a raging fire. She swatted one wolf out of the air as it leapt toward her, then spun to drive her spear to another. Wrenching the weapon free, she slammed the blunt end into the stomach of another wolf and then cut another two out of the air with the blade of the spear. It was beautiful to watch and the long blue thing that she wore – she had to be from the tribes, I realised – was caught in the rush of her movement.

As the wolves circled, I scrambled away and back toward mother and father, all of us now watching with guns in hand, none of us able to take a shot with the wolves so close to her. But if I thought that the woman might be worried, she wasn't. Instead, she threw her head back and laughed – laughed at those wolves, not because she didn't think they were a challenge, or because she was crazy, but because she was rejoicing, rejoicing in the thrill of battle, the rush and flow of movement where even a single mistake could mean the difference between life and death. She was laughing because she even there, surrounded by the chance of a swift death, she felt alive.

It finished in a flash, the wolves blurs of grey, and the woman all swirling blue, and black, and green. When it was over, the wolves littered the ground at her feet and she took a moment to check that they were done, before she turned to us. Yet despite all she'd done, I wasn't afraid, and neither, I thought, were mother or father for there was a look on her face, not a wild or angry look, but rather a look that seemed warm and almost amused.

She looked at us a long time, taking our measure, I guess, but then she nodded to herself and headed our way, her spear held loosely in one hand, the weapon slung over her shoulder. It was an almost careless posture, and one I felt she'd taken quite deliberately to try to put us all at ease. She opened her mouth to speak and then stopped as her eyes dropped to the knife still in my hand. Her eyes widened a bit and her mouth worked with no sound coming out and then she laughed, long and hard, and real.

"It figures," she said, her voice oddly accented "That I'd find something like that right when I'd just about given up hope of finding anything."

I blinked and looked down at the knife. "You mean this knife?"

She smirked, and I had a feeling it was something she did a lot, the expression seemed to come so naturally to her. "Yes, I am, kid. Mind telling me where you got it from?"

"A friend," I said softly. "A long time ago."

The woman grinned. "Didn't know Sunshine had all that many friends." She tilted her head to one side. "Was your friend named Lightning?"

I gaped. "How do you know Lightning?" Beside me, I could feel mother and father tense, as well.

At that her smirk faltered and in the instant before she had it back on I saw a whole heap of emotions run through her. "How do I know her? Well, me and Sunshine go way back." She chuckled. "The name's Fang."

X X X

**Author's Note**

I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off this.

I am horrible, aren't I? I can't promise that the sequel will be up and about, but when I finished writing Headed West, I couldn't help but imagine what a sequel would look like and the above is something that popped into my head.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


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